Environment committee  Budget 2008 resources are complementary to the enforcement officers on the ground. They are enabling laboratory support, data collection analysis, the management systems to manage that information, as well as the management systems to track compliance rates, which will actually m

Environment committee  That is correct.

Environment committee  I think the government does support the strong public participation agreements, and that issue is still under study.

Environment committee  Our first effort is to focus on developing the bill and supporting the committee in understanding the bill. We do, as I said, update our policies on compliance enforcement. We will do that should Bill C-16 be passed.

Environment committee  We've just finished this work, so I think we'll turn to it, as it looks as if this bill will move forward. We usually wait until a bill is passed before publicly revising our policies and directives.

Environment committee  We have some guidance in terms of our intent behind putting in these provisions. For instance, the intent of having the administrative monetary penalties is for simple offences such as filing a report at a late date. Those kinds of simple procedures, as my colleague said, can be

Environment committee  Those things are summarized in our annual report. There are statistics on the number of investigations, the number of warnings, the number of environmental clients, and alternative measures. And there is other information at a summary level.

Environment committee  Sometimes we do name them for a warning, although we haven't proposed that in this bill.

Environment committee  The purpose of using the environmental damages fund is to address the issue of restoration or damage. Both CEPA and the Migratory Birds Convention Act have allowed for that, but there's been a lack of awareness. It is used about 15 to 20 times a year, roughly $200,000 to $300,000

Environment committee  There are a couple of points to make on that. One of the things the bill recognizes is that individuals, small corporations, and corporations have different means, and it's trying to balance the means to pay a fine with the actual fine. But before that, it's trying to give the

Environment committee  I have a couple of points to make on this. We have policies on each of our statutes that demonstrate how we use our authorities. The other thing that is important to remember is that to ensure fairness, a chief review officer will act as the mechanism for any disputes.

Environment committee  Could you elaborate on what kind of thinking went into where we went, Sarah?

Environment committee  Yes, they do, and Environment Canada does have a database that will be useful for prosecutors to guide them on this kind of thing.

Environment committee  It's both, because it depends on whether it's just by virtue of its existence, or whether it's actually being used. So in some cases, like a wetland, it will be being used as a purification area.

Environment committee  It's one million dollars under CEPA .