Environment committee  I think it would probably be best for Linda to give some guidance on that.

Environment committee  One of the things we do after any new legislation is passed and it has gone through the full process is compliance promotion. I do think that the corporations and individuals operating under our legislation, particularly those corporations and individuals who get annual permits f

Environment committee  We haven't consulted on this piece of legislation. There have been other consultations as we've looked at how effective our legislation is, but there has been no specific consultation on this bill.

Environment committee  As I indicated, we were guided by other jurisdictions, and particularly in a North American context, but there is some academic literature on what are deterring factors for avoiding offences.

Environment committee  Well, the laws do still have prison terms. We did look at our prison terms relative to other jurisdictions as well. The reason we focused on the North American context is largely due to the perception that low fines give a business advantage. We were looking to neutralize any p

Environment committee  Yes, that is a fisheries issue.

Environment committee  I'll start, and maybe Sarah would want to add. They are purely monetary penalties; in other words, they don't have the possibility of a jail sentence or amount to a conviction or lead to a criminal record. They are intended to address violations of the least amount of stigma, if

Environment committee  You're recommending another law.

Environment committee  We did analyze the Species at Risk Act for these provisions. According to our analysis, it's like the other provisions. Sometimes there's an element there, but it's not necessarily consistent and as modern as Bill C-16.

Environment committee  That's the oldest of the suite of statutes that's being revised. It's from 1955, and it was created to allow for a government decision about constructing any dam or diversion that would affect the flow of an international river. It sets out a process for regulating, permitting, a

Environment committee  It would be more in the operation of such a dam--

Environment committee  --because the permit restricts what changes they can make to the flow on a seasonal basis and that sort of thing.

Environment committee  This bill is just dealing with statutes under the power of the Minister of Environment and parks.

Environment committee  I think it's actually the Fisheries Act, Mr. Chair. The fisheries minister has committed to developing a regulation that would set a certain standard of treatment for all discharges of municipal waste water into fish-bearing waters. It's going to be guided by the Canada-wide stra

Environment committee  There are some elements of CEPA, and we are currently using some guideline provisions for CEPA for ammonia discharges. We also have a pollution prevention plan for reducing chlorinated effluent discharges. We are using CEPA, and we will continue to use CEPA under the chemical man