Time to Renew your Membership!

You should be aware that the OAIA 2003 membership year ended on December 31, 2003. If you haven't yet renewed your membership for 2004, it's time to do it now. Our policy is to maintain memberships in good standing two months into the following year. Thus if you were a paid-up member in 2003, but and have not yet registered for 2004, your membership would lapse at midnight on Feb 29, 2004. You can join OAIA or renew your membership via the user-friendly registration form always available on this site. Simply type in the required information, print the completed form, and mail it along with you cheque to OAIA, Box 2727, Postal Station D, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5W7.

| TOP |

---

 OAIA Board Elections

Nominations are now open for President-Elect of OAIA and for three OAIA directorships. The nominations will close at midnight March 14. If you are interested in running for one of these positions or nominating someone, please follow the provided link for the user-friendly nomination form. Nomination forms should be sent to OAIA, Box 2727, Postal Station D, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5W7, and should be postmarked no later than March 14. If you need to make last-minute arrangements to get your nomination papers in, contact Ray Lamoureux at Ray.Lamoureux@ceaa.gc.ca or Ray.Lamoureux@rogers.ca

The President-Elect will serve one year in that capacity, before serving one year as President, and finally, one year as Past-President. The term of office of Directors is two years.

If the number of candidates exceeds the number of available positions, elections will be held in time to ensure that the 2004 board is in place by on May 1, 2004, as per OAIA bylaws.

Please note that only OAIA members in good standing are eligible to be members of the OAIA Board, to nominate or second the nomination of a Board member, or to vote in OAIA elections.

If you are interested in helping to raise the public profile of impact assessment; improve its practice; influence corporate and government policies in relation to impact assessment; and enhance networking and professional development opportunities for impact assessment practitioners, we strongly urge you to consider serving on the Board of OAIA. Also, if you know someone who would fit this profile, even if they are not presently a member of OAIA, we urge you to encourage them to make themselves known to OAIA. We may be contacted at any time at info@oaia.on.ca.

Please note that, although the acronym OAIA stands for Ontario Association for Impact Assessment, the interests of our members are by no means confined to the Ontario geographical region, to assessments conducted under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act., or for that matter, to legislatively mandated impact assessment processes. We have a number of members who work in federal EA in the National Capital Region as well as throughout Ontario. As likely as not, OAIA members from the National Capital Region (your president included) work, and often live, in Quebec. We also have members who work in regional or municipal planning contexts, as well as those whose primary focus is international. Finally, a number of our members are strongly interested in the non-legislated aspects of impact assessment, and its role in voluntary corporate environmental initiatives. 

| TOP |

 

---

Memorandum of Understanding between OAIA and IAIA

On January 16, 2004, the OAIA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IAIA that, among other things, extends certain privileges of IAIA membership to OAIA members. Most notably, OAIA members will be entitled to the special IAIA member's rate at IAIA's annual conference and will be entitled to access the "members only" portion of IAIA's Web site (www.iaia.org.)

The OAIA member discount for the IAIA conference alone is worth US $100. So if you are anticipating going to the conference, you should make sure that your membership is current. All members currently in good standing (2003 members; new and renewed 2004 members) have received an E-mail which establishes their membership in OAIA. This OAIA member discount will be especially beneficial this year when the IAIA conference is being held in Vancouver (April 24-30), and hopefully there will be a good turnout of OAIA members.

An added benefit flowing from the Memorandum of Understanding is that OAIA members also receive a code that permits them to access the "members only" section of the IAIA Web site. Members in good standing are now enjoying this benefit.

Please ensure that keep your OAIA membership up-to-date, especially if you take advantage of OAIA member discounts or other special privileges.

| TOP |

 

---

IAIA '04 Update

From April 24-30, the 2004 global conference of International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA '04) will be held at the Sheraton Wall Center in Vancouver. This conference is held in Canada only about once every 10 years, and OAIA, as one of the three Canadian IAIA affiliates hosting the conference, has been playing a significant role in ensuring that this will be the best IAIA conference ever. IAIA '04 will provide a unique opportunity for Canadian impact assessment practitioners to interact with their colleagues across Canada, and throughout the world. The latest information on the conference, as well as all necessary registration materials, can be found at www.iaia.org.

The theme of IAIA '04 is "Impact Assessment for Industrial Development - Whose Business Is It?" The conference will explore the roles and responsibilities of the various participants in impact assessments of industrial projects: private sector and state-owned industrial corporations; international financial institutions; banks; government agencies; non-governmental organizations; Aboriginal people; directly affected communities, and the public at large. Corporations involved in industrial development will have an ideal opportunity to showcase their achievements in impact assessment, and present their ideas and opinions. Because the Canadian corporate sector has undertaken or plans to undertake many world-scale industrial projects, and has made many important contributions to the advancement of the field of impact assessment, we expect IAIA '04 to be a landmark event for Canada and for IAIA.

Judging from the large number of people already registered for the conference, and the very large number of abstracts received before the January 15 submission deadline, interest in IAIA '04 is running very high indeed. There is every indication delegate interest in registering may exceed the registration limit of approximately 800. So make sure you register early to ensure that you are not disappointed. Early registration will also save you a lot of money.

IAIA'04 will introduce the concept of Theme Forums, which will be integrative in nature and will introduce and tie together various ideas relevant to impact assessment as they pertain to a specific sector or broad topic. Each Theme Forum topic will be pursued in greater detail in subsequent concurrent sessions.

The Theme Forum topics are as follows:

• Achieving Sustainability: the Role of Impact Assessment

• Application of Impact Assessment to Fisheries, Agriculture and Forestry

• Impact Assessment and the Oil and Gas Industry

• Impact Assessment and the Mining Industry

• Impact Assessment and the Electricity Sector

• Industry Perspectives on Biodiversity and Impact Assessment

• Integrated Assessment of International Trade

• Impact Assessment and International Finance

• Voluntary Environmental Initiatives - Industry Achievement

Please note that there are still a number of corporate sponsorship opportunities that will raise the profile of your organization within the impact assessment community.

If you have any questions about IAIA '04, contact Stan Holman, the Conference Coordinator, at Stan.Holman@ec.gc.ca , 604-666-2442 (telephone) or 604-6990 (fax). Alternatively you may E-mail IAIA directly at info@iaia.org.

| TOP |

 

---

IAIA '04 Conference Fees go up on January 31.

We would also like to point out to you that the conference registration fee goes up by an additional US $100 after January 31, 2004. If you register before this date and also take advantage of the special discount available to OAIA members, quick action on your part could save a total of US $200.

| TOP |

Upwind/Downwind Conference (a practical conference on improving air quality)

The third biennial Upwind/Downwind Conference will be held March 29 and 30 at the Hamilton Convention Center. Air Quality issues will be discussed in the context of the following themes:

Human Health, Land Use Planning, Urban Design, Smart Growth, Architecture, Policy, Community Action, and Risk Management

Appealing to planners, architects, designers, elected officials, policy makers, environmental and project managers, academics, and active citizens, the Upwind Downwind Conference provides a forum for information sharing, and networking.

| TOP | 

---

Science Horizons Youth Internship Programme

The Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network Coordinating Office (EMAN CO) has received funding under the HRDC Science Horizons Youth Internship Programme to support placements for the 2004-05 fiscal period. Environment Canada's Science Horizons Program is a collaborative effort with Canadian universities, the private sector and other non-government organizations, which offers promising young scientists and post-secondary graduates hands-on experience working on environmental projects under the mentorship and coaching of experienced scientists and program managers. Funding of up to $12,000 per placement is available. Employers must provide a minimum of 30% of the eligible cost of the project per placement.

The establishment of terrestrial monitoring stations at EMAN sites, and the collection of benthos at minimally impacted sites or reference sites, in support of the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) and the Ontario Benthos Biomonitoring Network (OBBN) using Science Horizon placements in 2003 proved to be a great success. The CABIN and OBBN are tremendously effective partnerships between the National Water Research Institute, the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Wildlife Habitat Canada, Environment Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Parks Canada, several provincial ministries, and several environmental non-governmental organizations.

Our partners applied standardised methods for the plot-based monitoring of forest vegetation (trees, shrubs, ground vegetation, seedling regeneration, canopy and bole condition), and the monitoring of soil decomposition, anurans, earthworms, plant phenology, ice phenology, terrestrial salamanders using cover-boards, and epiphytic lichens. Such stations are designed to provide information related primarily to the early detection of change at EMAN sites across Canada. In some cases plots were re-inventoried and the data is being used for assessments on tree mortality. Benthos reference site data was collected in the Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario and Prairie - Northern Regions and is being used to support analytical tools for both the CABIN and OBBN.

The terrestrial and aquatic monitoring stations are being adopted by many EMAN partners including Parks Canada, Provincial Parks, Conservation Authorities, Biosphere Reserves, Community-based monitoring partnerships, and many Environmental Non-governmental Organizations. The continuation of plot establishment and re-inventories, and benthos reference and test site data collection is essential in providing data for local, regional, provincial, and national status and trends assessments, and is providing needed input to adaptive monitoring and research programs, which is effectively augmenting Environment Canada's ability to track and report on ecosystem change.

The EMAN CO is seeking applications from our partners who wish to participate in a similar 2004-05 Science Horizons initiative. Partners who wish to establish or augment EMAN terrestrial monitoring stations using peer reviewed EMAN standardized protocols and/or water quality stations using the CABIN or OBBN protocols are encouraged to apply. Successful applicants will be expected to send the person that they hire under the Science Horizon program to an "EMAN Standardised Ecosystem Monitoring Protocol Workshop" that will be held early in May 2004. The workshop will include instructions on sample design, implementing of standardised protocols and data management. Successful applicants will also be expected to submit a detailed final report that will include an introduction, objectives, rationale, methods, results, discussion, and an appendix that includes a hard and digital copy of the data collected for their project.

Please read the background information on the Science Horizon's website at: http://www.ec.gc.ca/sci_hor/

Please send to our office no later than February 2, 2004, a completed Schedule A, Employer Application (http://www.ec.gc.ca/sci_hor/schedulea.doc ).

| TOP | 

---

Editor's Note:

If you wish to make OAIA members and friends aware of an event of interest; make an important announcement; or contribute to the OAIA Bulletin, please contact Ray.Lamoureux@ceaa.gc.ca. Items can be placed on the website at any time, but please note that you need to allow more lead time if you wish to include your item in the OAIA Bulletin. We will also place advertisements, particularly those pertaining to professional services and available employment, in the Bulletin, and will consider special-purpose E-mailings of interest to our members and friends. You should be aware, however, that there may be charges associated with those latter services.

| TOP |