CANADA House of Commons Debates VOLUME 142 Ï NUMBER 048 Ï 2nd SESSION Ï 39th PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Monday, February 11, 2008 Speaker: The Honourable Peter Milliken CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca 2853 HOUSE OF COMMONS Monday, February 11, 2008 The House met at 11 a.m. [Translation] He also contended that the establishment of a new Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development was similar to the Prayers creation of a new government department and that such provisions needed to be accompanied by a royal recommendation. He cited a ruling of July 11, 1988 when two report stage motions, the first of Ï (1100) which proposed the establishment of a separate department of [English] government and the second a separate commissioner of multi- culturalism, were ruled out of order on the basis that they offended The Speaker: It being 11 a.m., the House will now proceed to the the royal recommendation which accompanied that bill. consideration of private members' business as listed on today's order paper. Finally, citing a ruling of September 19, 2006 on the Development Assistance Accountability Act, Bill C-293, which concluded that a PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS royal recommendation was required for the establishment of an advisory committee for international cooperation, the parliamentary NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ACT secretary argued that the creation of an advisory council on The House resumed from December 11, 2007 consideration of the sustainable development also requires a royal recommendation on motion that Bill C-474, An Act to require the development and the basis that it would result in the expenditure of public funds in a implementation of a National Sustainable Development Strategy, the manner and for a purpose not currently authorized. reporting of progress against a standard set of environmental indicators and the appointment of an independent Commissioner of [English] the Environment and Sustainable Development accountable to Parliament, and to adopt specific goals with respect to sustainable In his submission on January 31, 2008, the hon. member for Don development in Canada, and to make consequential amendments to Valley West conceded that the bill needed to be accompanied by a another Act, be read the second time and referred to a committee. royal recommendation. He indicated that he would work with other [English] members at the committee stage to amend the bill in such a way that any impediments to its progress would be removed. The Chair BILL C-474—NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ACT—SPEAKER'S wishes to commend the hon. member for his constructive approach. RULING The Speaker: I am now prepared to rule on the point of order In order to assist the House, the Chair has carefully reviewed the raised by the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the provisions contained in Bill C-474 to identify the provisions that Government in the House of Commons on December 11, 2007, caused concern regarding the royal recommendation while at the concerning the national sustainable development act, Bill C-474, same time responding to the point of order raised by the hon. standing in the name of the hon. member for Don Valley West, and parliamentary secretary . its requirement for a royal recommendation. I wish to thank both the hon. parliamentary secretary as well as the member for Don Valley [Translation] West for their submissions on this matter. In his intervention, the hon. parliamentary secretary contended The appointment of the Commissioner of the Environment and that the bill's provisions to establish a new and independent Sustainable Development is currently carried out under section 15.1 Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Auditor General Act. It states: would not only require new government spending but also represent a change in the conditions and qualifications of the royal 15.1(1) The Auditor General shall, in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act, appoint a senior officer to be called the Commissioner of the recommendation that accompanied the 1995 amendments to the Environment and Sustainable Development who shall report directly to the Auditor General Act. Auditor General. 2854 COMMONS DEBATES February 11, 2008 Private Members' Business [English] the power to pay. As the provision in Bill C-474 is such that the governor in council could choose to pay a salary to these Bill C-474, on the other hand, would provide for the Commis- representatives, this involves an appropriation of a part of the public sioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to be revenue and should be accompanied by a royal recommendation. If appointed by the governor in council as an independent commis- the intention of the bill is that these representatives would not be sioner instead of being appointed by and reporting to the Auditor paid, then this should be clearly expressed in the bill. General. Although funds may have already been appropriated for the position of Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable For all of these reasons, I will decline to put the question on third Development under the Auditor General Act, the Chair agrees with reading of this bill in its present form unless a royal recommendation the arguments put forward by the hon. parliamentary secretary to the is received. effect that the provisions contained in Bill C-474 would clearly alter the conditions under which these appropriations were originally However, debate is currently on the motion for second reading and authorized. this motion shall be put to a vote at the close of the second reading Ï (1105) debate, of course in conformity with the Standing Orders of the [Translation] House. Bill C-474 also proposes a new mandate for the commissioner. Resuming debate, the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister The current mandate is spelled out in section 21.1 of the Auditor of Transport. General Act. It states:21.1 The purpose of the Commissioner is to provide sustainable development monitoring and reporting on the progress of category 1 Mr. Brian Jean (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of departments towards sustainable development— Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, CPC): Mr. Speaker, [English] I rise today to address the House on the second reading of Bill C-474, the proposed National Sustainable Development Act. Category I departments are defined in the act as any departments named in Schedule I of the Financial Administration Act, in the As my colleagues have stated previously and as the government schedule to the Auditor General Act or identified by the governor in recently laid out in the Speech from the Throne, this government is council under subsection 24(3). clearly committed to improving environmental sustainability However, clause 13 of Bill C-474 would modify the mandate of throughout this country. this new independent commissioner to require, namely, the development of “a national sustainability monitoring system to We are implementing a very ambitious plan to cut greenhouse assess...the state of the Canadian environment, nationally and by gases and to cut air pollution. For the first time ever, our government province” as well as “...the national and provincial performance in will be regulating the big industrial polluters. It took this government meeting each sustainable development goal...” listed in the bill. to take those steps to do that. Goals listed in the bill include “generating genuine wealth, Among other measures, the government has taken action to shifting to clean energy, producing healthy food and building protect water quality, which is so important to Canadians, including sustainable cities”, to quote the bill. tough new regulations against the dumping of raw sewage as well as [Translation] improving raw sewage treatment in municipalities and first nation communities across Canada. We are expanding our capacity to As House of Commons Procedure and Practice points out, on enforce our environmental laws. We are taking the environment very page 711: seriously. A Royal Recommendation not only fixes the allowable charge, but also its objects, purposes, conditions and qualifications. We know that protecting and sustaining our natural environment is [English] central to the quality of life of Canadians and this country, to our very prosperity and to the health and well-being of all Canadians. We The clause 13 requirements would impose additional functions on have also been clear about our commitment to greater accountability the commissioner that are substantially different from those foreseen in every step of government, especially in the environment, in in the current mandate. In the Chair's view, clause 13 thus alters the advancing sustainable development. conditions set out in the original bill to which a royal recommenda- tion was attached. When the former minister of the environment tabled the fourth Finally, the hon. parliamentary secretary argued that the creation round of sustainable development strategies in December 2007, she of the sustainable development advisory council provided for in Bill stated the need to take action to address the inaction of previous C-474 requires a royal recommendation since this would require the governments and to ensure that Canada become a leader in expenditure of public funds in a manner and for a purpose not sustainable development. currently authorized. Today, we already have the tools to do the job for Canada to Clause 7 of the bill provides for the governor in council to appoint become a leader in sustainable development. Canada is one of the 25 representatives to the advisory council. Section 23 of the very few countries in the world that has enshrined sustainable Interpretation Act makes it clear that the power to appoint includes development in actual legislation. We are proud of that.