Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development: It’s Time to Walk the Talk

Date:                  2005 (Interim)
Chair:                 Hon. Tommy Banks (AB)
Deputy Chair:    Hon. Ethel Cochrane (NL)
Downloads:       Click here

Summary:
The Committee examined the following issues:

     *  the current state and future direction of production, distribution,
        consumption, trade, security and sustainability of Canada’s energy
        resources;

     *  environmental challenges facing Canada including responses to
         global climate change, air pollution, biodiversity and ecological
         integrity;

     *  sustainable development and management of renewable and
        non-renewable natural resources including water, minerals, soils,
        flora and fauna; and

     *  Canada’s international treaty obligations affecting energy, the
         environment and natural resources and their influence on
        Canada’s economic and social development.

The report concludes that Canada can be doing much more to ensure that our natural resources will be there for future generations. It makes 5 recommendations to move the Government on a determined path to sustainable development, including the establishment of a permanent Cabinet Committee on Sustainability and the Environment, as well as the creation of a clear Federal Sustainable Development Strategy.

Impact:
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Johanne Gélinas, agreed with many of the Senate’s recommendations in her 2005 report.