2. Consultation Process

• 2.1 Comments on Proces

This consultation was designed to solicit input from and to provide information to provincial representatives, industry, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), and local community groups on the set of proposed revisions to the current regulations for the export and import of hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable materials. The primary means of achieving this was a series multi-stakeholder sessions held at five locations across the country:

• Halifax - January 14-15, 2003;
• Calgary - January 22-23, 2003;
• Toronto - January 29-30, 2003;
• Montreal - February 5-6, 2003; and
• Vancouver - February 11-12, 2003.

Stratos Inc., Environment Canada's consultants for this process, developed an invitation list from lists used for a number of previous consultations, and contacted individuals primarily by e-mail. In advance of the sessions, a discussion paper which included as appendices a background paper on proposed drafting instructions as well as a draft guide for distinguishing between products and wastes/recyclable materials was circulated to all potential participants. Environment Canada also posted the paper on the CEPA Registry web site.

At each of the sessions, a two-person team facilitated and recorded the proceedings, with Environment Canada representatives presenting the proposed amendments and responding to specific questions and providing clarification on issues. A copy of the agenda and presentation slides is included in Appendix II and the list of attendees at all five sessions is included in Appendix I. Individual reports were prepared for each of the sessions, and sent to all participants for validation. This report synthesizes all of the session reports.

The multilateral sessions were preceded by a series of bilateral meetings including some discussions with representatives from the waste management industry, recyclers, engaged ENGOs, and various interested industry association including Canadian Petroleum Producers Association, the Canadian Chemical Producers Association, and Electronics Recyclers. Various industry and ENGO representatives also submitted written comments and position papers on the discussion paper. This report also summarizes the results of the bilaterals as well as the written submissions.

Workshop participants were invited to provide feedback on the process when commenting on the draft workshop reports and the discussion and background papers. Although most feedback was positive, some participants felt that Environment Canada had not adequately taken into consideration input provided in previous rounds of consultation. For example, some suggested that, although the sessions were a good opportunity to ask questions on what the regulations will look like, these did not seem to be enough of an opportunity to influence decisions. In addition, some provinces and other participants suggested that Environment Canada had not consulted adequately with provinces on the ESM regime, and this was the first opportunity to comment on a proposal that will have implications beyond the scope of this regulation.