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Closed Consultation

Approach to Air Pollutants under the Regulatory Framework for Air Emissions (RFAE) Consultation Event

When: Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Where: Ottawa, Ontario (and via teleconference)

The Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN) was invited by Environment Canada and Alberta Environment to select nineteen (19) NGO delegates for a consultation event on the approach to air pollutants under the RFAE, to facilitate communication between stakeholders participating in the work of the Tripartite Group including: Environment Canada, Alberta Environment, other provincial and industry representatives, NGO members of the Tripartite Group (six NGO members of the former Multi-Stakeholder Group) and the broader communities of health and environmental NGO stakeholders.

Teleconferencing services were provided to accommodate all NGOs interested in these discussions, including those not selected to attend in person.

Read the NGO-RFAE Consultations Final Summary Report.

The selected ENGO delegates were:

  1. Anna Tilman, STORM Coalition, ON
  2. Bruno Marcocchio, Sierra Club, NS
  3. Dave Stevens, CHOKED, BC
  4. Delores Broten, Reach for Unbleached, BC
  5. Stefania Fortugno, Inter-Church Uranium Committee Educational Co-op, SK
  6. Elaine MacDonald, Ecojustice Canada, ON
  7. James W.White, Ecology Action Center, NS
  8. Mary Richardson, Crooked Creek Conservancy Society of Athabasca, AB
  9. Peter Ormond, Conserver Society of Hamilton and District, ON
  10. Robert Rattle, Clean North, ON
  11. Sheila Cole, Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia, NS
  12. Therese Hutchinson, Occupational Health Clinic for Ontario Workers, ON
  13. Thera Ip, Alternatives Journal, ON
  14. Clare Demerse, Pembina Institute, ON

Alternates:

  • Doug Badger, Regional Environmental Action Committee, AB
  • Kathy Cooper, Canadian Environmental Law Association, ON
  • Glen Koroluk, Beyond Factory Farming, MB
  • Olga Schwartzkopf, Soil and Water Conservation Society, BC

In addition to the ENGO delegates, 5 health NGO delegates were selected through the Canadian Network for Human Health and the Environment:

  1. John Wellner, Ontario Medical Association, ON
  2. Mary de Bassecourt, Environmental Health Association of Ontario, ON
  3. Barbara MacKinnon, New Brunswick Lung Association, NB
  4. Rohini Peris, Allergy and Environmental Health Association of Québec, QC
  5. Kenneth Maybee, New Brunswick Lung Association, NB

The NGOs on the Tripartite Group attending on August 26 were:

  1. Nashina Shariff, Toxics Watch, AB
  2. Lisa Gue, David Suzuki Foundation, ON
  3. Stephen Hazell, Sierra Club of Canada, ON
  4. Quentin Chiotti, Pollution Probe, ON
  5. Chris Wilson, Canadian Lung Association
  6. Claire Checkland, Canadian Cancer Society, ON

General Information
Since the release of the RFAE in April 2007, an initial series of meetings were held in May and June of 2007, followed by an NGO meeting in December 2007 focused on the Greenhouse Gas component of the Framework. A meeting planned for March of 2008 on the air pollutants component of the Framework was postponed.

During this time a Multi-Stakeholder Group (MS-Group) that included a smaller group of RCEN ENGO members, health NGOs and industry representatives met with Environment Canada to present a possible alternative to the current federal regulatory framework proposal.

Subsequently, a Tripartite Group was formed that includes industry and NGO members involved in the MS-Group, provincial representatives from the Environmental Protection and Planning Committee of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment and representatives from the federal government. Currently the Tripartite Group is actively fleshing out the details of possible options for one or more alternative framework proposals.

In order to inform the broader NGO stakeholders of the work of the Tripartite Group; to seek the views, concerns and advice of the broader health and environmental NGO stakeholders; to capture the breadth of specific air pollutants and regulatory knowledge and expertise that exists within the RCEN membership and broader community of health NGOs, and to ensure a cohesive NGO voice in this policy process, effective communication between Environment Canada, Alberta Environment, other stakeholders involved in the Tripartite Group and the broader health and environmental NGO communities was essential.

For more information, please contact Daniel Casselman,  RCEN National Caucus Coordinator, at (613) 728-9810 ext. 236.

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