Initially, the problem in Canada was that we didn't have enough resources for adequate enforcement. There weren't enough boots on the ground and in the field.
There's also a question of willingness to prosecute. That's why places like the United States, dating back to the Clean Air Act in 1970, have allowed citizens to step into government's boots, with appropriate safeguards in place, and enforce those critical environmental laws. Those safeguards are really important. In the United states, before a citizen can enforce the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act, they have to provide the government and the alleged violating party with 60 days' notice. That 60-day period allows the government to take appropriate enforcement action or the alleged violator to come into compliance. Citizens cannot file enforcement actions in the U.S. if the government is already proceeding with enforcement, so that avoids the fear of double prosecutions.
By putting those safeguards in place, you can have a system where citizens are spurring government to increase enforcement. It results in higher levels of deterrence and higher levels of compliance.
Of course, some people fear that the courts will be overwhelmed with citizens trying to enforce these laws, but it's a difficult and expensive process. In the United States, there are somewhere between 100 and 200 environmental citizen suits a year. We're about one-tenth the size, so you could forecast between 10 and 20 of these in Canada a year.
The intention when CEPA was amended in 1999—