Introducing OAIA’s First-ever
Electronic Newsletter! by
Ray Lamoureux, Editor
Welcome to the first edition of the OAIA
Bulletin. This electronic newsletter is being launched to
encourage more frequent and timely communication on matters of
importance to OAIA members. Our objectives are to ensure that
information is in your hands while it is still current, and to
lower the cost of regular communication with our members.
We are clearly not yet up to speed, and are painfully aware that
some of the items in OAIA Bulletin #1 are hardly fast-breaking
news. However, we must first consolidate our position before we
can fully implement our strategy of more timely communication.
The quality of the OAIA Bulletin will depend to a large extent
on the active participation of members and friends of OAIA. We
welcome your articles and announcements, as well as your
comments regarding format, features and content. If you would
like to contribute an article; make OAIA members or friends
aware of an upcoming event; make people aware of a recent career
move you have made or of any other personal news of interest;
share knowledge and experiences; point to important unfolding
policy developments or recommend publications (electronic or
print) of interest to the impact assessment community, please
pass this information along to us at info@oaia.on.ca, and we
will do everything in our power to include it in the next
edition of the OAIA Bulletin.
Over the last few months we have been running special E-mail
announcements on events and developments of potential interest
to our members. We have found that this practice has been
expensive for us, and in at least one case, we were not able to
respond in a timely manner.
We are now proposing a new approach which will enable us to
handle a much larger volume of announcements in a cost effective
manner. If you send us your announcement at least a month ahead
of the event we will include your announcement, together with
others we receive before the deadline, in our next edition of
the OAIA Bulletin, at least one week before the date of the
event. If we get more advance notice that this we may be able to
include your announcement in more than one OAIA bulletin.
Ideally your announcement should be formatted as a PDF
attachment that requires no further manipulation by our paid
staff. We can also handle Word and Word Perfect documents.
It is our intention to issue an OAIA Bulletin whenever we have
something worthwhile to say. That is, the time interval between
Bulletins will be tailored to the situation, not fixed.
With the launching of the OAIA Bulletin, to be issued on a
frequent, "on-demand" basis, we will be abandoning the practice
of issuing (or attempting to issue) a quarterly newsletter. It
is unlikely, however, that, the Bulletin will entirely supplant
the need for paper-based communication, and we will be
rethinking our requirements in that regard the next few months.
Again your comments and suggestions are most welcome.
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OAIA Updates Website
In addition to housing our online
newsletter, the OAIA website has been recently updated to
include two new features; an online directory of OAIA members
and a simpler and more convenient registration procedure.
We have introduced an online
Directory of Members
currently registered in OAIA,
which we will continually update. This tool will facilitate your
communication with other OAIA members. It will also give you a
quick way of checking whether you are registered as a member and
whether the information we have on your membership is
up-to-date.
We have simplified the process of
joining OAIA or
renewing
your membership. We now have a Web-based printer-friendly
electronic registration form which you can fill out online,
print and mail to us along with your annual fee.
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OAIA Annual General Meeting Attracts
Significant Participation
There was a
strong turnout (over 35 people) at the OAIA 2001 annual meeting
and seminar held April 12 at the Faculty Club, University of
Toronto.
The names of our four new board members, Daniel Grondin, Eva
Ligeti, Richard Nancarrow and Paul Rennick, were announced. See
biographical sketches
of Board Members. Richard and Paul briefly addressed the
meeting. Daniel and Eva were unable to attend because of other
commitments.
The name of our incoming President-Elect, Ray Lamoureux, was
announced. Unfortunately Ray couldn't participate in the AGM
because of his involvement in negotiations of an IA-related OECD
agreement pertaining to export credit agencies.
The great contribution of Paul McDonald, the outgoing president
of OAIA, was acknowledged. Paul provided a
perspective of his
years at the helm of OAIA and also introduced the incoming
President.
Lee Doran, the incoming President of OAIA, gave a brief history
of IA, including in Ontario and Canada, and suggested OAIA's
theme ("A Meeting Place for People who care about Impact
Assessment - and its Future - in Ontario") will guide its
activities over the next year. See
notes on his
presentation.
Director Betty Hansen provided an overview of the activities of
OAIA's Partnership
Committee and
IAIA's Branches and Affiliates Committee, both of which she
chairs.
OAIA Member, Darla Cameron, read a brief report on
events organized by the
Ottawa Area Program Committee on behalf of committee chair,
Lucien Cattrysse, who was unable to attend the AGM.
Steve Rowe, the chairman of the Toronto Area Program Committee,
with the assistance of committee member, Darla Cameron,
presented his report on
events organized by the Toronto Area Program Committee and
subsequently made a presentation on
past accomplishments
and future needs as well as on
ideas for next steps.
With these suggestions in hand, OAIA's Board of Directors is
looking for volunteers to assist the Board in organizing events
in the Toronto area and for any other suggestions that members
have. In short - we need your ideas, your talent and your
vision. [Please contact Lee Doran, E-mail address,
Lee.Doran@sympatico.ca]
The highlight of the evening was a
presentation by Louise
Knox, Ontario Regional Director, Canadian Environmental
Assessment Agency on the proposed amendments to the Canadian
Environmental Assessment Act contained in Bill C-19, now before
Parliament.
Louise fielded a couple of questions that required further
research. She undertook to get back to us on these. See
questions and answers.
During the subsequent discussion, it became apparent that future
collaboration between OAIA and the Canadian Environmental
Assessment Agency on the issue of EA follow up might be
appropriate. It was agreed to follow up on follow up
Special thanks are due to the Toronto Program Committee,
especially Steve Rowe and Darla Cameron, for help organizing the
AGM; to outgoing Board members, Shirley Conover and Grace
Patterson; and especially to Paul McDonald for five years of
strong leadership of OAIA.
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Should Power Plants in Ontario Still
be Burning Coal? by
Lee Doran
Early in 2001,
several US governors called for an impact assessment of coal
burning power plants in Ontario. The OAIA Board, intrigued and
interested, did some technical sleuthing on the issue. (Our
special thanks to former Board member Shirley Conover for her
help with this.)
The result was a
Letter from OAIA to the Environment Ministers of both
Ontario and Canada. We expressed our interest in the issue and
availability to assist, if useful and appropriate.
At the lead-up to the Quebec City free trade discussions in
April, a collection of US Attorneys General wrote a
Letter to EPA
Administrator Whitman urging her to discuss the issue with
Canadian Minister Anderson in Quebec City.
Now we have responses from
Minister Witmer
and Minister Anderson
to our letter. We await Minister Anderson's decision on the
impact assessment request with great interest.
Your Board will continue to monitor this issue. Anyone with an
interest in helping out can send us a message here or directly
to Lee Doran.
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IAIA '01: Impact Assessment in an
Urban Context by
Ray Lamoureux
The annual
conference of the International Association for Impact
Assessment was held from May 26 to June 1, 2001 in the
historical walled city of Cartegena, Columbia. This was the
first time that an IAIA conference had been held in South
America. It was a fitting venue, as there is great potential for
impact assessment to help shape the future of this dynamic and
rapidly developing part of the world.
The theme of IAIA '01 was Impact Assessment in an Urban Context.
This was a timely and appropriate theme, given that the greater
part of the earth's population is now urbanized, and IA has a
key role to play in addressing the many daunting environmental,
social and health challenges associated with the high rate and
massive scale of urbanization of the world's population.
On the Friday before the conference there was an orientation
meeting and council meeting for the benefit of new members and
affiliates. The former provided an overview of how IAIA was
organized; the latter provided an opportunity for affiliates to
interact with the executive of IAIA.
On the weekend before the conference two-day training courses on
sustainable river planning, strategic environmental assessment,
and biodiversity in IA were held. In addition, on Sunday, WHO
(World Health Organization) and the Multilateral Development
Banks each sponsored well attended one-day workshops. I attended
the WHO workshop which dealt with the evolving area of health
impact assessment.
More than 20 Canadians participated in IAIA '01. The Canadian
Environmental Assessment Agency, which was a financial supporter
of the conference, was represented by its President, Sid
Gershberg and three other Agency staff, myself included. Federal
departments and Crown corporations represented at the conference
included: Energy, Mines and Resources; Environment; Export
Development Corporation; Health; and Transport. Delegates from
the private, academic and public sectors from diverse regions of
Canada played very active roles. A significant proportion of the
Canadian participants presented papers.
OAIA members at the conference included Shirley Conover, Cara
McCue and myself. Betty Hansen, who chairs the Branches and
Affiliates Committee of IAIA, was prevented from attending
because of a bureaucratic mix-up over visa requirements, and was
sorely missed.
Canadians will be playing an important role in IAIA over the
next few years. Peter Leonard of Hydro Québec assumed the office
of President-Elect at the conference. Paula Caldwell of
Environment Canada is a board member.
As your President-Elect, I availed myself of every opportunity
to get to know IAIA better, including participation in the
orientation session and council meeting held on the Friday
preceding the conference, and the Branches and Affiliates
Committee meeting held at mid-conference. I came away with a
much better appreciation of the historical development of IAIA
and its affiliates, and current thinking about future
directions.
My sense is that IAIA is at a crossroads in its development. It
is clear that there is a great need for an international voice
on IA issues. It is also clear that the most IA activity occurs
at the local, regional and national levels, and that this
activity is best addressed by organizations, like OAIA, whose
operational sphere is primarily at those levels. There is still
a great deal of work to be done in defining mutually supportive
roles and working relationships both among IAIA affiliates and
between the affiliates and the international organization. In
the end we all want to achieve better and more equitable
environmental, socio-economic, health and safety outcomes,
through more effective application of IA to policy making and
development decisions.
At present less than 15% of OAIA members are also members of
IAIA. Although the cost of IAIA membership is higher than that
of OAIA membership, and the cost of active participation in IAIA
through its annual conference can be a major financial
impediment, there are important advantages both from an
environmental and a professional development standpoint, of
interacting with the global IA community. IAIA is the only
organization that speaks to the full range of IA issues on a
global basis. If you want to influence that agenda, you should
consider becoming a member of IAIA. You can find out more about
IAIA at www.iaia.org.
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Bill to Amend Canadian Environmental
Assessment Act Moves Forward
The bill to amend
the Canadian Environmental Assessment (C-19) has now passed
second reading and has been referred to the Parliamentary
Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development for
detailed review. It is expected that the Committee will review
the bill after it has finished dealing with the Species at Risk
Act (SARA) bill. Committee review of Bill C-19 will likely occur
late in the fall. The earliest plausible date for royal assent
date is likely to be in early spring.
Visit the Canadian Environmental
Assessment Agency website to view
Bill C-19
and the
Minister's Report to Parliament
in relation to it.
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Global Warming Report Released in
Draft Form
The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) has released in draft summary form its third
assessment report which updates, with the most current
scientific information, its previous reports of 1990 and 1995.
Summary reports geared to policymakers and to technical
specialists have been produced by each of the three working
groups of IPCC.
Working Group I assesses the scientific aspects of the climate
system and climate change. See
Policymakers'
Summary Report;
Technical
Specialists' Summary Report.
Working Group II addresses the vulnerability of socio-economic
and natural systems to climate change, negative and positive
consequences of climate change, and options for adapting to it.
See
Policymakers' Summary Report;
Technical
Specialists' Summary Report.
Working Group III assesses options for limiting greenhouse gas
emissions and otherwise mitigating climate change. See
Policymakers'
Summary Report;
Technical
Specialists' Summary Report.
If you don't want to work quite so hard, an
excellent synopsis of the key considerations prepared by
Daniel Albritton, one of the authors of the IPCC Report, is
provided in testimony he presented to the US House of
Representatives.
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OECD Breaks New Ground
The OECD recently
published a report entitled Environmental Outlook which examines
the various environmental issues facing OECD countries, and
prioritizes them in terms of their relative urgency. A
summary
of the report is available on the OECD website. Unfortunately,
if you want to obtain the full hard copy of the report you will
probably have to
purchase it
or find it in your library (ISBN 9264186158).
Although at $65 US, it is not cheap, the report contains an
amazing amount of up-to-date information. Lee Doran, our
President, thinks that the report is nothing short of
revolutionary, and well worth the price. If you can't afford to
buy Environmental Outlook, you can view the entire
report online, but you won't be able to download and print
it.
On 16 May 2001, OECD Ministers adopted an
OECD Environmental Strategy for the 21st Century). This
strategy relates back to the prioritization of environmental
issues in the Environmental Outlook report.
It is important for our members to keep abreast of these
landmark international developments which will greatly influence
at some point what happens here in Ontario.
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Other Interesting and Important
Reading
The United
Nations Report
GEO-2000
Global Environmental Perspectives contains a wealth of key
information of the present status of the global environment and
the factors driving environmental change. This report can be
viewed on (and downloaded from) the website of the United Nation
Environmental Program.
There is a growing number of excellent environmental newsletters
that may be of interest to our members. May we suggest that you
check out Environment Canada's electronic newsletter,
EnviroZine, the Conservation Council of Ontario's electronic
newsletter,
Green On
and the international
e-volve
newsletter. All are free.
In addition we have recently become aware of a promising new
website called
CanadianEnvironmental.com. You can also sign up for a free
newsletter at this site.
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Last Call - International Trade
Matters
A couple of
months ago Lee Doran sent out an E-mail to OAIA members and
friends to determine their interest in participating in
consultations on the environmental assessment of international
trade agreements and on the new Environmental Review Framework
being implemented by Export Development Corporation (EDC). Given
the important environmental implications of these initiatives,
he was surprised by the low level of interest by OAIA members.
Here is his
E-mail
message again, in case there is any interest out there.
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