Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Serious harm is defined in the legislation. It's essentially “the death of fish or any permanent alteration to, or destruction of, fish habitat”. Fish habitat is also defined in the legislation as the “spawning grounds…nursery, rearing, food supply and migration areas, on which fish depend directly or indirectly”.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  The employment opportunities that come from projects that are generally subjected to environmental assessments really range by project. They range from tens to thousands of construction jobs and tens to hundreds of permanent full-time jobs. It really brings about more certainty in the timelines for the process, which gives investors greater confidence and greater likelihood to invest in projects in Canada.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  My understanding and my interpretation of the way it's currently drafted is that the proposed subsection 35(2) that will come into effect with the legislation passing is strictly a clarification of the definition of a harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction of fish habitat.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  It brings clarification to that, and my understanding is that the delay between the two is to allow DFO to get an appropriate update of its policy for the management of fish habitat.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Earlier, I talked about the regional differences in the application of the Fisheries Act. I think that may account for it. We see how the habitat provisions are applied in British Columbia, where you can have authorizations required for the removal of riparian vegetation. We don't see that applied consistently across Canada.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Just bringing consistency will significantly improve the application.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Yes. When I look at the factors to be taken into account in a decision for authorization, it focuses on a lot of the same principles that we see in DFO's current policy. I think a lot of it is going to come down to how DFO defines its policy and how they're going to implement this.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I haven't had time to go into the details of the legislative changes to the Fisheries Act. However, in my review of it so far, I see one of the key improvements to be the addition of section 6, which outlines the factors to be taken into account when an authorization is to be considered, and that includes contribution of the fish to the ongoing productivity of a commercial, recreational, or aboriginal fishery; fisheries management objectives, which are established by Fisheries and Oceans Canada; opportunities for mitigation measures, which I fully anticipate will follow DFO's current hierarchy of approval, to relocate, redesign, and then mitigate; and then the public interest.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I think the focus of Fisheries and Oceans going forward is going to be on the really important habitats that exist within Canada. It's interesting that the terminology refers to the contribution to the commercial, recreational, and aboriginal fisheries. I think most people don't realize that means the minnows and other fish that actually may not form a fishery at any one point, but feed fish that support a fishery will be protected.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  The proposed changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act actually don't reduce the timelines. They actually provide timelines for the environmental assessment process, which is a significant benefit. As an example, for comparison, the provincial environmental assessment process in British Columbia has legislated timelines that have been in effect since 1995.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Yes.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  CCA is pleased with the legislation because of the regulatory process certainty it provides. It lays out the steps and the environmental assessment processes and provides timelines so that we can predict, looking forward, how a project will proceed. The scoping of an environmental assessment, the consultation requirements, those are all established by the government staff working on the ground with each individual project, and those are always project specific.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  There are 17,000 members within CCA, and it employs approximately one and a quarter million Canadians.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  CCA members are able to take advantage of construction opportunities after projects have been able to complete their environmental assessment and permitting processes. If there are delays in those processes, there's no opportunity to start work.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Canada has recently become a global provider of natural resources and energy. A recent study released by PricewaterhouseCoopers has forecast that Canada's construction market will become the world's fifth largest by 2020, primarily on the strength of global demands for energy and natural resources.