Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Daniel. It's a good question. Social licence is one of 2012's most popular buzzwords. It falls, I think, into the category of terms like “responsible resource development” and “sustainable development”, which are eminently political and which these representatives

Natural Resources committee  In northern communities, climate change effects are being felt day after day. There is the permafrost. The ice in the Beaufort Sea is melting, thereby changing the habitat of animals and fish. As a result, the region’s economy is changing, because ships can now pass through there

Natural Resources committee  That is a good question. The presidential report that was produced after the spill had a number of major conclusions, but the most obvious conclusion we can all draw is that deregulation was one of the main causes for that incident. Whether we are talking about environmental imp

Natural Resources committee  I think that Ms. Briño's answer gave us a rather clear idea of the problems we have seen, in particular the fact that companies were sometimes not really ready to get involved in the environmental impact assessment process. Often companies have come unprepared for an environment

Natural Resources committee  Speaking specifically to the issue of offshore drilling, I have no doubt that the major oil companies that are capable of making the investments necessary to engage in exploration and eventual production activities have the capital to finance whatever form of regulatory process i

Natural Resources committee  I'd simply like to relay the experience from the National Energy Board's Arctic offshore review in which it was very clear that communities and organizations such as the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the Inuvialuit Game Council were very concerned about the employment benef

Natural Resources committee  I appreciate the leading question.

Natural Resources committee  I'll be frank. Internally Ecojustice has found the government's approach on this issue of charitable activities by the environmental community to be offensive. Ecojustice has been around for 20 years, and 75% to 80% of our budget comes from average Canadians. We don't accept go

Natural Resources committee  Thank you for the opportunity, Chair and members. It's a pleasure to be here. The issue of northern development is one that is a massive challenge to civil society because not only are many “southern” environmental groups not really present in the north—there are some who are—b

Natural Resources committee  Ecojustice most recently represented World Wildlife Fund Canada in the National Energy Board's Arctic offshore review, which took place in the shadow of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Our primary engagement at this point in the north at Ecojustice is on the issue of offshore

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I appreciate the question. In the interests of full disclosure, I note that I represent three different groups on matters pertaining to the Old Harry proposal: the strategic environmental assessments being undertaken by the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Bo

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Sure. I appreciate the point. I think that focusing resources is an important objective. The issue is how one solves a problem. Does one solve it legislatively, or does one solve it through guidelines and policies? Ecojustice Canada would suggest that the objective of avoiding

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  In short, no. That is because, one, insufficient resources are dedicated to habitat protection, and, two, the discretion that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has to authorize harmful alteration, disruption, and destruction of fish habitat pursuant to subsection 35(2) is ver

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Let's take a concrete example. The Taseko Mines project in northern B.C. proposed a gold mine. The B.C. environmental assessment office approved the project. They gave it the stamp of approval. The current federal government, under the jurisdiction of Minister Prentice, took a ha

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  The proposed amendments provide for—and this would be at the proposed subsection 35(4)—ministerial exemptions to certain classes of works, undertakings, or activities, or to specified waters. Pursuant to the enactment of Bill C-38, what would be provided for would be a regime of