Fisheries committee  Oh, dear. I have a very mobile face. One of the things that puzzled me about the Waterkeeper testimony was ascribing the section 36 regulations to the 2012 changes. They have been in existence for quite some time. The predecessor to the metal mining effluent regulations dates b

Fisheries committee  That was the practice of our members' mining projects. In practice, they were asked to account for more water bodies.

Fisheries committee  No, I'll make the remarks. Mark is here in case you have technical questions.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for this opportunity to present the Mining Association of Canada's views on the Fisheries Act. The Mining Association of Canada, MAC, is the national organization representing the Canadian mining industry, comprising companies engaged in mineral exploration, mining, sm

Environment committee  Yes, of course.

Environment committee  We are working with, or talking with, environmental groups, but the discussion is on other acts where we are much more impacted, such as the Environmental Assessment Act. On something like CEPA, which is a many-headed beast and is more of an enabling act, there are conversations

Environment committee  Workplace hazardous materials information and labelling are not under CEPA.

Environment committee  It's under a separate law, and the terminology is very different. They attempt to convey information on safe use and handling and alert people to the type kind of danger. Some things you don't want to breathe, some things you don't want to put on fire, and some things you don't w

Environment committee  Does it?

Environment committee  There is a review just being completed, or it has been. The consultative parts have been completed. We're waiting with bated breath to hear where Environment and Climate Change Canada landed. The current MMER is underpinned by environmental effects monitoring, so the impact on a

Environment committee  But that's under the Fisheries Act.

Environment committee  Are you referring to schedule 2 of the MMER?

Environment committee  That's a complicated question. I would not be able to fit it into one little period. There are reasons for that provision being in the regulations, if only because in very many parts of Canada where mining occurs, there is a lot of water, so to place your mine and material safel

Environment committee  Yes.... There—

Environment committee  I don't think, at least at this point, that we would propose changing the definition of “toxic” or “substance”. Someone else may have ideas for how to improve it. It is difficult. You can go to a pure hazard-based one, but that has problems . You can emphasize risk more. Yes, t