Follow-up report to the Standing Committee on the Canadian Environmental Protection Act: chapter 9

9 Conclusion

The Government of Canada would like to thank the Standing Committee for its important report, and to thank also those Canadians who participated in the review process and reached out, through social media, letters to the government, and other means to voice their support for improvements to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA).

The recommendations included in the committee’s report have provided important guidance for the improvement of CEPA and the programs it enables. The government agrees that legislative amendments are required to address many of the committee’s recommendations and commits to legislative reform as soon as possible in future parliamentary sessions.

In order to support its commitment to advance reforms to CEPA in future parliamentary sessions, the government will convene a multi-stakeholder process to seek further input on reforms, and will use the committee’s recommendations to inform its work to update this important statute. The government also commits to carrying out engagement with implicated federal departments, partners and stakeholders concerning the regulatory gap on First Nations reserves, environmental rights, and the future of chemicals management. These processes could also inform future statutory reform of CEPA.

As indicated in this report, the government has already made progress in strengthening environmental protection and human health outcomes as a result of the committee’s recommendations. The government is committed to continue to improve its approach to the numerous environmental protection programs enabled under CEPA.