In June 2016, the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change announced that she would establish an independent expert panel to review Canada’s environmental assessment (EA) processes under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012). Members of the public were invited to submit comments on the Panel’s draft Terms of Reference.
Designed correctly, this review presents a unique opportunity to meaningfully weigh in on the development of an important national environmental law that affects the public’s ability to have a say in projects that affect them.
This submission from West Coast Environmental Law outlines our recommendations on how to help ensure that the review is broad enough and the Panel has adequate resources to identify strategic-level solutions to strengthening EA rather than just incremental improvements to the existing law.