| Montreal, 15/05/1997 – The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) -- created by a side accord to NAFTA -- today requested the Government of Canada to respond to a citizen submission filed by the Sierra Legal Defence Fund (Vancouver, B.C.) and the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund (Seattle, WA) on behalf of a coalition of Canadian and US non governmental groups. The submission alleges that the Government of Canada is failing to enforce effectively certain provisions of the Fisheries Act and the National Energy Board Act with respect to B.C. Hydro’s operation of its hydro electric dams, resulting in “substantial damage” to fish and the environment.
Under Articles 14 and 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), any non governmental organization or person may file a submission with the Secretariat of the CEC asserting that one of the NAFTA countries is failing to enforce its environmental law effectively.
The request for a response does not imply that the Secretariat has arrived at any decision or determination on the merits of the allegations in the submission. Under the NAAEC, the Canadian government has 30 days -- 60 in exceptional circumstances -- to respond to the CEC Secretariat’s request.
After the Canadian government has responded, the Secretariat will inform the Council whether or not, in its view, an inquiry to gather factual information -- known as a "factual record" -- is warranted. If the Secretariat favors the preparation of a factual record, the CEC Council, comprised by the Environment Ministers, or their equivalent, of the three NAFTA countries then votes on whether to proceed with such an inquiry.
The CEC, which is equally funded by Canada, Mexico and the United States, is based in Montreal, Canada.
The registry of submissions, as well as more information on the submission process, is available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.cca.cec.org. |
