Environment committee  What I'm trying to avoid is saying yes to a full socio-economic impact statement. What I would say yes to is the inclusion of socio-economic factors in the discussion. That's where I would like to clarify that.

Environment committee  The answer in my books is no, because the strategic environmental assessment is really government's job to do. It shouldn't be placed on proponents. Really, a strategic environmental assessment is the land use planning discussion within government, and that should be done in a m

Environment committee  It depends on the jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction has different areas to look at, so there would be a role for strategic environmental assessment at the federal level, provided it's done by government and not by the proponent, and the same at the provincial level.

Environment committee  In the province of Saskatchewan we've really done that. We have.... I'm sorry, my French would not be passable, I'm afraid. In the province of Saskatchewan, we have a single point to look at environmental assessments, and we can make recommendations to go to the tribunal level.

Environment committee  The answer is yes, it is part of the process. In fact, it is part of any decision that we make that might impact on traditional rights in the province, so the answer is yes. We're currently in discussions with the CEAA in order to try to align those as closely as possible to see

Environment committee  Well, the duty's on the crown, and if it's integrated, it would make it more efficient, and certainly.... Yes.

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  Fundamentally, in the Saskatchewan system, the answer is that social and economic factors can be considered as part of the environmental assessment process. That's part of our decision-making process. In the guideline process, we would identify any particular areas that needed to

Environment committee  My fear, again, is that it would generate more process rather than less process. I think my answer would be couched in the fact that you have to understand, in the grand scheme of things, where environmental assessment, at least in our opinion, resides. It's not at a feasibilit

Environment committee  To go back to your original question, with respect to screening-level assessments, they tend to be of a relatively minor nature. To be quite honest, some of the triggers, especially within an existing industrial site, are laughable. Generally, though, on the screening level, I

Environment committee  No, we don't censor.

Environment committee  The only exception would be if there were a very small technological item that needed to be kept secret for proprietary reasons, and that would be decided by the minister.

Environment committee  Absolutely, but only a very small component.

Environment committee  I'll speak to the Saskatchewan example. We've been able to work with the process in the province so that it gets a fulsome review. Yet we've brought the timelines down so that a full-sized potash mine, for instance, can get its environmental approvals within seven to ten months.

Environment committee  No, I'm not familiar with any that occurred in Saskatchewan.