Whereas a project subject to provincial environmental assessment EA process can be separated into different EA processes or excluded from the process altogether such as hydro, gas supply, navigation, etc.; And whereas, because of this, there is no cumulative analysis that creates a clear picture of the entire impact of a proposal, including the five pillars of environmental assessment; economic, social, environmental, health and heritage, thereby distorting and potentially minimizes the magnitude of the impact or understanding by the community and local government: Therefore be it resolved that the Province consider projects in their entirety when evaluating them through the Environmental Assessment Office.
Ministry of Environment Climate Change Strategy The Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy has a mandate to revitalize the Environmental Assessment EA process, and is currently working to identify the steps that will be taken to achieve this mandate. The Minister will make a formal announcement on the process for EA revitalization at a later date. Major policy or legislation initiatives typically include opportunities for stakeholder engagement, so there will likely be opportunities for municipalities to provide input from their experience with the EA process. The Environmental Assessment Office EAO assesses whether a proposed project might have significant adverse environmental, social, economic, heritage or health effects. Within each of these categories, the EAO determines individual Valued Components that must be assessed. This may include, for example, potential impacts to wildlife, heritage sites, recreation use, etc. Cumulative effects can be defined as changes to the environment that are caused by an action in combination with other past, present and future human actions. When assessing cumulative effects on valued components, the EAO currently considers the following information: - approved land use plans that designate the most appropriate activities on the land base; - current baseline data that includes the existing effects of past and current activities that overlap with the effects of the proposed project; - consideration of potential overlapping impacts that may be occurring due to other developments, even if not directly related to the proposed projects; and - consideration of future developments that are reasonably foreseeable either proposed public disclosure or have been approved to be built, but are not yet built.