Monday, November 26, 2018

The Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources has the honour to present its

SEVENTEENTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-57, An Act to amend the Federal Sustainable Development Act, has, in obedience to the order of reference of October 25, 2018, examined the said bill and now reports the same with the following amendments:

1. Clause 5, page 4: Replace line 17, with the following:

“lated to sustainable development, including matters referred to it by”.

2. Clause 8, page 5: Add the following after line 30:

“10.2 Performance-based contracts with the Government of Canada, including employment contracts, shall, where applicable, include provisions for meeting the applicable goals and targets referred to in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and any applicable strategy developed under section 11.”.

3. New clauses 10.1 to 10.4, page 8: Add the following after line 25:

“Consequential Amendments to the Auditor General Act

10.1 (1) The definition category I department in section 2 of the Auditor General Act is repealed.

(2) Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

designated entity has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Federal Sustainable Development Act; (entité désignée)

10.2 The portion of section 21.1 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Purpose

21.1 In addition to carrying out the functions referred to in subsection 23(3), the purpose of the Commissioner is to provide sustainable development monitoring and reporting on the progress of designated entities towards sustainable development, which is a continually evolving concept based on the integration of social, economic and environmental concerns, and which may be achieved by, among other things,

10.3 Subsection 22(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Petitions received

22 (1) Where the Auditor General receives a petition in writing from a resident of Canada about an environmental matter in the context of sustainable development that is the responsibility of a designated entity, the Auditor General shall make a record of the petition and forward the petition within fifteen days after the day on which it is received to the appropriate Minister for the designated entity.

10.4(1) Paragraph 23(1)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(a) the extent to which designated entities have contributed to meeting the targets set out in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and have met the objectives, and implemented the plans, set out in their own sustainable development strategies laid before the Houses of Parliament under section 11 or 12 of the Federal Sustainable Development Act; and

(2) Paragraph 23(2)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(a) the extent to which designated entities have contributed to meeting the targets set out in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and have met the objectives, and implemented the plans, set out in their own sustainable development strategies laid before the Houses of Parliament under section 11 or 12 of the Federal Sustainable Development Act;

(3) Paragraph 23(2)(c) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(c) the exercising of the authority of the Governor in Council under sections 12.2 and 12.3 of the Federal Sustainable Development Act.”

Respectfully submitted,