Response to the report on strengthening the Canadian Environmental Protection Act
Official title: Government Response to the House of Commons Standing Committee On Environment and Sustainable Development Report Entitled: Healthy Environment, Healthy Canadians, Healthy Economy: Strengthening the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) is the main law for preventing pollution and protecting the environment and human health. It is the basis for many of the Government’s environmental and health protection programs.
In March 2016, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development (ENVI Committee) began its review of CEPA. The Committee recognized that CEPA needs to be updated and improved to effectively manage environmental and health risks. On June 15, 2017, the ENVI Committee released its report, which is called “Healthy Environment, Healthy Canadians, Healthy Economy: Strengthening the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999”, and includes 87 recommendations to improve CEPA.
The Government responded to the ENVI Committee’s report on October 6, 2017. The Government said it supports the report’s main message that changes are needed to update and improve CEPA. It committed to looking into possible changes to CEPA and to producing a report on actions taken and to be taken to respond to the Committee’s recommendations. The Government also promised to publish a report on its overall approach to improving the implementation of the Act. These actions will help support environmental and health protection.
The response is a high level Government response to the ENVI Committee report and does not consider policy options. This means the response itself does not have direct or indirect environmental effects and will not directly affect or contribute to the 2016-2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) goals and targets.
Related Links:
Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
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