Summary of the Meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee on Science and Knowledge
January 27 and 28, 2021
Virtual Meeting
Meeting Objective
The main objective of the January 27-28 meeting was to hear from TAC sub-committees about their work, including initial meetings with contractors (if applicable), and to allow for a discussion with the whole committee.
Day 1
Agenda Item: Opening Remarks & Agency Update
- The TAC co-chairs provided opening remarks.
- The Agency’s ex-officio member provided a territorial acknowledgement for the land on which the Agency representatives were located.
- The TAC co-chairs announced the resignation of Hugo Mailhot Couture from the committee.
- The ex-officio member provided updates on the following topics:
- The status of the three research contracts complementing the work of the three TAC sub-committees.
- The activities of the Indigenous Advisory Committee and the priorities of the Minister’s Advisory Council.
Agenda Item: Sub-committee on Cumulative Effects Presentation
- The sub-committee champions provided an overview of their work to date and updated on the research contract that has been established to support their work. Next steps include confirming recommendations for new content and revisions to existing content in the existing cumulative effects assessment guidance, as well as reviewing draft documents from the contractor.
- Agency officials had the opportunity to answer some questions that the subcommittee had on the topic of cumulative effects and committed to provide further information in the future. This included committing to provide an Agency perspective on which value components are subject to cumulative effects assessment.
- TAC members had the opportunity to discuss the work that the sub-committee is undertaking. This included discussions on whether an iterative approach should be taken for scoping the value components that are subject to cumulative effects assessment, and to what degree this scoping should be flexible throughout the assessment process.
Agenda Item: Sub-committee on Health, Social, and Economic Effects Presentation
- The sub-committee champions provided an overview of their work to date and the work that they will complete going forward. This includes memos that will be drafted through the research contract on addressing the relationships between health impact assessment and other types of impact assessments, as well as mental health effects.
- The sub-committee will address ethical issues related to health impact assessment, as well as provide comments on the Agency’s existing Health, Social, and Economic Effects guidance documents.
- The champions also expressed their hope that the Agency would develop additional policy context documents on health, social, and economic effects to provide a framework for topic-specific guidance as well as tools and templates.
- TAC members had the opportunity to discuss data collection issues in health impact assessment, examples of well-done assessments, and ethical issues that exist when conducting assessments.
Day 2
Agenda Item: Sub-committee on Positive Effects Presentation
- The sub-committee champions provided an overview of their work to date and updated on the research contract that has been established to support their work. They also presented a draft list of principles for input by the committee. Next steps include finalizing the principles and reviewing draft contractor documents.
- Agency officials had the opportunity to provide some feedback on the role of positive effects assessment in informing decision-makers, and how this influenced elements of the Impact Assessment Act.
- TAC members had the opportunity to discuss the work that the sub-committee is undertaking. This included discussions on the role the principles list could play, how effects are interpreted as positive or negative by stakeholders, and the way that positive effects assessment should interact with the decision-making phase of the assessment process.
Agenda Item: Joint Sub-committee on Indigenous Knowledge and Science Presentation
- The sub-committee is composed of members from both the TAC and the Indigenous Advisory Committee. The champion from the TAC provided an update on the sub-committee’s work to date. This work included discussing advice for proponents on the consideration of Indigenous Knowledge and Science in the Early Planning Phase, as well as discussing some of the challenges faced by Indigenous groups, differences of world views, importance of language, and the concept of knowledge systems coming together in an impact assessment.
- Next steps for the sub-committee include preparing a first draft of their advice to the Agency.
- TAC members had the opportunity to discuss the work that the sub-committee is undertaking. This included discussions on training scientists, using inclusive and appropriate terminology, the concept of trust, spending time on the land, use of ceremonies to show respect, how knowledge systems can complement each other even if they are separate or parallel, and the importance of good process.
Agenda Item: Recap and Next Steps
The TAC co-chairs summarized the takeaways from both days of the meetings.
Take Aways
- The sub-committees will continue to meet to advance their work.
- Sub-committee champions will work with the co-chairs and the Agency to determine an agenda for the next TAC meeting.
- The Agency will provide a response to the question on the cumulative effects assessment of value components.
Attendees
TAC Co-Chairs
- Kevin Hanna
- Darcy Pickard
TAC Committee Members
- Bill Ross
- Colin Webster
- Gillian Donald
- Glennis Lewis
- Helga Shield
- Marie Lagimodiere
- Mark Shrimpton
- Meinhard Doelle
- Michel Bérubé
Regrets
- Alistair MacDonald
Impact Assessment Agency of Canada
- Mike Atkinson
- Steve Chapman
- Brent Parker
- Phil Seeto
- Miriam Padolsky
- Robyn Whittaker
- Aidan Wakely-Mulroney
- Joshua Boisvert
- Alana Green
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