Environment committee  In 1990, the International Joint Commission, in one of its semi-annual reports, had a few words to say on this subject. Here is exactly what it said in English: We said it was time for a choice; should we “continue attempts to manage persistent toxic substances after they have

Environment committee  That was certainly the commission's view at the time. That is why there was a special report, which I tabled before the committee with the chair. Most of the documents I brought today are in English and French. I believe the one on the use of economic instruments was in English o

Environment committee  We looked at a variety of economic instruments that could be used to encourage substitution. In fact, we did four case studies of how our proposed virtual elimination framework could actually be applied, so there are some case studies.

Environment committee  Yes, sir.

Environment committee  Yes. Under the agreement, for example, in worrisome sectors for which there are improvement plans, managers have to submit three progress reports to the Commission. We are responsible for evaluating these reports and giving an opinion.

Environment committee  Here, in Canada, the costs are covered by the federal Department of the Environment with the Province of Ontario; and in the U.S., by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with the States.

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman, may I add something? I would like to add a few words. I remarked earlier about the fact that in the Great Lakes, at least, there are designated areas of concern, and in some of these areas of concern, contaminated sediments are the heritage stocks that I think you

Environment committee  Personally, I think that that is a question for the government’s staff who were involved in the negotiations. The International Joint Commission made recommendations to the governments, but it was up to the governments to decide what they were going to do with them. To my mind, i

Environment committee  No. We're a binational organization and we looked at the Great Lakes as an integrated ecosystem. Data like that are available. There are release inventory data published in the United States and in Canada, and we utilize those data for the production of our own analyses and repor

Environment committee  I want to point out, in answer to your question, that with respect to contaminated sediments, the water quality agreement has been a tool in addressing them. That is because the 1987 protocol established what are called lake-wide management plans and remedial action plans. Based

Environment committee  Thank you. The virtual agreement makes its appearance in the 1978 agreement. It starts off right at the very beginning, at article II, which lays out the purposes of the agreement. As Derek pointed out, the two federal governments declare that it's their policy to prohibit the d

Environment committee  I'm Joel Weiner I'm the senior adviser in the Canadian section of the International Joint Commission. With me is my colleague Mr. Jim Houston, our environmental adviser. We've been asked to come and explain the connection between the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, about whi