Summary of the Meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee on Science and Knowledge
March 3-4, 2020
Vancouver

Meeting Objectives

The two main objectives of the March meeting were to: 1) obtain advice on the approach proposed in the draft “Interim Policy Framework on Strategic Assessment”; and 2) receive advice from the Committee on how to best scope assessments under the Impact Assessment Act. The agenda also included a preliminary discussion to solicit input on monitoring and adaptive management.

In addition to the discussion topics, the meeting included two presentations: 1) from BC Hydro on their approach to project assessment, and 2) from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office on the province’s new Environmental Assessment Act.

These topical discussions were preceded by an update by the Agency and followed by a discussion of the Committee’s forward agenda.

Day 1 – March 3, 2020

Welcome and Debrief

The Agency’s Ex-Officio member of the Committee welcomed members and opened with an acknowledgement that the meeting was held on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations.

The Ex-Officio member stated that input received from the Committee on the draft document on Health, Social and Economic Effects Analysis was useful in revising the Agency’s proposed approach. Specifically, the input helped to enhance the report’s perspective on Indigenous communities and vulnerable groups. The document now also includes a new section on direct, indirect and induced economic effects. He also updated the Committee on the framework for the review of the science used in impact assessment, which will be conducted by the Office of Canada’s Chief Science Advisor (OCSA). The framework had been presented at the Committee’s September 2019 meeting by the OCSA, which had subsequently revised the framework for the review and was now carrying out further consultations.

Updates on Recent Events and Developments

The Ex-Officio member provided a debrief of the January 2020 meeting of the Indigenous Advisory Committee (IAC). At the meeting in Montreal, IAC discussed key principles of inclusion and protection for Indigenous knowledge and finalized the structure for a working group to work on an Indigenous Policy Framework.

The Ex-Officio member indicated that a joint IAC-TAC meeting was planned for 10 June 2020 at which results from an Agency-funded research contract on Indigenous knowledge and science will be discussed.

Responding to the Committee’s interest in the topic, the Ex-Officio member updated the Committee on the Strategic Assessment of Thermal Coal Mining and the Regional Assessment of Offshore Oil and Gas Exploratory Drilling East of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change announced a strategic assessment of thermal coal mining in December 2019. In addition to economic market analysis, the assessment will look into impacts on health as well as on Canada’s international commitments and initiatives. The regional assessment in Newfoundland has progressed well with the Regional Assessment Committee releasing the final report on February 29, 2020. The second regional assessment, involving the Ring of Fire area (Northern Ontario) is still at the planning stage.

Between the sessions on the two main agenda items of the day, two representatives from BC Hydro made a presentation on their experience with project assessments.

Agenda Item: Strategic Assessment

The Ex-Officio member presented a brief outline of the interim policy framework on strategic assessment that the Agency drafted. The Agency had held a workshop in November 2019 to obtain initial views from experts in the field, leading to the development of the current draft. Based on the Committee’s feedback, the draft will be revised and is targeted to be published on the Agency’s website in the spring of 2020.

The Committee was given the following questions for guiding the discussion:

The Committee expressed the following viewpoints while responding to the questions:

Agenda Item: Scoping

An Agency official explained the legislative requirements for the scope of factors to be considered in an impact assessment. The Committee discussed the questions below.

Discussion Questions from TAC Lead:

Discussion Questions from the Agency:

The discussion was opened with a presentation by the TAC lead, which incorporated comments received by TAC members. Before the meeting, there was agreement from all TAC members about the importance of doing a good job of scoping, however, there were many perspectives shared about how, when, and by who should do the scoping exercise. During the discussion the following points were discussed:

Day 2 – March 4, 2019

The day was opened with a presentation on the new Environmental Assessment Act of British Columbia by a representative from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office.

Agenda item: Follow-Up

The Agency distributed two draft policy products ahead of the meeting for discussion: 1) a draft fact-sheet on follow-up, monitoring and adaptive management; and 2) a draft outline for adaptive management guidance. Members were also provided background research conducted for the Agency as well as the following discussion questions to guide the conversation.

Discussion Questions from the Agency:

The discussion was opened with a presentation by the TAC lead and summary of the input provided on the discussion questions ahead of the meeting. This led to a preliminary discussion on the topic and agreed to undertake a more fulsome discussion in the future.

Committee members noted the following:

It is important for the Agency’s fact sheet to distinguish among different types of monitoring (e.g. follow-up monitoring, compliance monitoring and baseline monitoring).

One member indicated that it is important for adaptive management plans, especially those managing risks and uncertainties (e.g. tailings, closure plans) to specify timelines for addressing particular issues.

Agenda Item: Future Priorities

The President of the Agency, David McGovern, attended this closing session. The President engaged in a dialogue with the Committee on how its work plan aligned with the priorities of the Agency. The Committee will be looking to identify a few issues to pursue over the next year.

Members noted that for future meetings, the Committee should pick a maximum of two substantive issues – one per day – with some flexibility to accommodate one more. The Committee identified a number of topics that they would like to revisit at subsequent meetings, including:

Attendees

Co-Chairs

Committee Members

Regrets

Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

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