Environment committee  I think the real misfortune with Trans Mountain is that it was assessed under a process that was intended to shut people out. As I mentioned earlier, the reason we're in this situation now is that indigenous peoples and concerned members of the public, communities over whose lands and waters the project would be built, were deliberately excluded from the assessment, or when they were able to participate, weren't able to have a meaningful say.

Environment committee  Actually, we do. In most of the literature that I produce, I mention livelihoods. I also mention community needs, which, of course, are at the heart of what we're attempting to achieve, in terms of both environmental sustainability and also the economic well-being of Canadians, the intra- and intergenerational equity that we're hoping the sustainability purpose of the act will achieve.

Environment committee  As public interest...?

Environment committee  We've recommended adding any criteria that are set out in regulations to help guide the decision, allowing the minister to enact regulations that would help provide that kind of guidance in a more detailed way that we can't get in the legislation, and then any criteria that are developed in the assessment plan that I mentioned in proposed subsection 16(2) that could be tailored to the specific needs of the project.

Environment committee  I think that to be meaningful, processes also have to be deliberative, engaging the public, in the planning phase, on the way in which they want to be engaged. What are the seasons in which they may not be around because they're out on the land? Do they want formal hearings in which they're lawyered up, or do they want to sit at round tables.

Environment committee  I suppose I can't say everything—

Environment committee  —because it's a package. I would go back to two things. One would be the planning phase. Reflecting on what Mr. Sopuck said about the regulatory environment now being fraught, I think one of the intentions of CEAA 2012 was to shut the public out of environmental decision-making.

Environment committee  I think it's a great idea, as I said before. I would add two functions of this body if it is implemented. One would be to provide alternative dispute resolution in multi-jurisdictional negotiations, government-to-government negotiations, all the way through. In the planning phase, for example, if jurisdictions can't come up with an agreement to conduct an assessment, this tribunal could either provide mediation or arbitration to get us to a process that everybody agrees on.

Environment committee  I'd be happy to respond. We believe that the ultimate goal of the intention of “one project, one review”, should be multi-jurisdictional collaboration, not substitution, and that where any kind of collaboration or substitution is allowed, that should be to the highest standards, so we were fairly disappointed in those provisions in the act.

Environment committee  I don't think the agency could really fulfill that function. It's going to be at the heart of a lot of the disputes. You don't want the responsible authority providing alternative dispute resolution and mediating disputes that are between it and the public or it and other jurisdictions, as examples.

Environment committee  Thank you very much for this opportunity to be here on the traditional territory of the Algonquin nation. My name is Anna Johnston. I'm a staff lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law, a non-profit environmental organization that has been protecting B.C.'s environment through law for over 40 years.