By: Sharon Mascher
PDF Version: What Should Require Federal Impact Assessment? Proposed Triggers for a Credible Federal Impact Assessment Regime
Document Commented On: Environmental and Regulatory Reviews Discussion Paper, Government of Canada, June 2017
On June 29, 2017, the Government of Canada released a Discussion Paper outlining a series of “system-wide changes” under consideration “to strengthen Canada’s environmental assessment and regulatory processes” (at 7). In earlier posts, I provide an overview of the Discussion Paper; Professor Bankes discusses the Discussion Paper’s response to the Report of the Expert Panel on the Modernization of the National Energy Board; and Professor Kwasniak considers how to fill the gaps in the Discussion Paper to regain public trust in federal assessment processes. Professor Kwasniak’s post focuses, in particular, on the core questions of what impacts should be assessed, to what end impacts should be assessed, and how assessments should figure in decision-making relating to project approval or disapproval. This post focuses on filling the gaps in the Discussion Paper relating to another core question—what should require federal impact assessment? The answer to this question is, of course, central to the Government of Canada’s commitment to deliver credible impact assessment and regulatory processes that both regain public trust and protect the environment.