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Canada's New Environment Minister
THE GALLON ENVIRONMENT LETTER
Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment
506 Victoria Ave., Montreal, Quebec H3Y 2R5
Ph. (514) 369 0230, Fax (514) 369 3282
Email cibe@web.net, Website
<http://www.gallon.elogik.com/>http://www.gallon.elogik.com
Vol. 3, No. 24, August 4, 1999
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SPECIAL ON THE NEW FEDERAL MINISTER OF THE ENVIRONMENT
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DAVID ANDERSON CANADA’S NEW ENVIRONMENT MINISTER
The Honourable David Anderson, M.P., Victoria, B.C. has been appointed
Canada`s new Minister of the Environment. He replaces Christine Stewart
who did well, but was undercut by industry and its supporters in her efforts
to deliver on strong environmental programs. In the end, she oversaw the
introduction of a new Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA)
that has some strengths.
David Anderson was born in Victoria, British Columbia. He attended both
Victoria High School and Victoria College. At the University of British
Columbia, he studied economics and law, and was a member of the Rome
Olympic and the Chicago PanAmerican Games silvermedal rowing crews.
After graduation, he studied for two years at the Institute for Oriental
Studies at the University of Hong Kong. He also spent six years with the
Department of External Affairs, serving in Indochina, Hong Kong and
Ottawa. From 1968 to 1972, during his time as MP for EsquimaltSaanich,
Mr. Anderson founded and chaired the Special Committee on Environmental
Pollution. In 1972, he was elected leader of the Liberal Party of British
Columbia, and was elected MLA for Victoria in August of that year. From
1975 to 1978, Mr. Anderson was counsel to the British Columbia Wildlife
Federation and a consultant for Environment Canada. Later, he taught law
at the University of Victoria's School of Public Administration. Between
1984 and 1989, he served as member of the Immigration Appeal Board.
>From 1989 until his election in 1993, he returned to environmental
consulting.
In 1989, Mr. Anderson was appointed Special Advisor to the Premier of
British Columbia on Tanker Traffic. In 1990, he served as the sole
commissioner of the Commission of Inquiry into Fraser Valley Petroleum
Exploration.
Mr. Anderson was elected Liberal MP for Victoria in the 1993 federal
election and served as Minister of National Revenue from November
1993 to January 1996. As Minister, he streamlined border operations
and increased enforcement on international smuggling. In January
1996 he was appointed Minister of Transport where he developed links
between transportation and tourism and assisted in the restructuring of
Canadian Airlines. Mr. Anderson was reelected as MP for Victoria in
June 1997 and was immediately appointed Minister of Fisheries and
Oceans. Since his appointment, Mr. Anderson has been recognized
internationally for his efforts on behalf of salmon conservation,
established Canada’s first Marine Protected Areas and initiated efforts
to improve boating safety. Also, since his appointment to Cabinet in
1993, Mr. Anderson has served as Senior British Columbia Minister
in the federal government. For ministerial appointments see the PMO
website at <http://pm.gc.ca/>http://pm.gc.ca
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DAVID ANDERSON BRINGS CLOUT TO ENVIRONMENT
David Anderson is a well known defender of the environment. Those
of us in the Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment (CIBE)
who worked with him in British Columbia in the early 1970`s, remember
his dedicated efforts when he was a B.C. M.P. He worked with SPEC,
Society for the Promotion of Environmental Conservation, Vancouver,
the B.C. Wildlife Federation and the fisheries unions to prevent poorly
designed supertankers from plying the waters of B.C. and Washington
State where oil spills might ruin ocean habitat and fish spawning areas.
He even assisted in a legal action with some of the major U.S.
environmental groups like the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to request an
environmental impact assessment of the proposed new Alyeska Pipeline
to be built by ARCO from the North Slopes of Alaska to the southern
Alaskan port of Valdez. He worked to help prevent the State of Washington
from damming the Skagit River, and ruining water quality and whitewater
fish habitat in an artificial lake that would have backed into British
Columbia. David Anderson worked closely with another great B.C.
MP committed to the environment, the Hon. John Fraser, M.P. (Vancouver
South). David was working on these on the West Coast at the time the
Trudeau Government in 1971 appointed Canada`s first ever Minister
for the Department of the Environment, the Hon. Jack Davis. Go to
Environment Canada’s Green Lane Website for info on David Anderson
at http://www.ec.gc.ca/
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PRIME MINISTER JEAN CHRETIEN GIVES SUPPORT
Canada’s Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, has undertaken a mid-term
shift, placing environment on a high priority level. The National Post
(August 4, 1999) reported David Anderson as saying, “I can assure you
it was the prime minister himself who wanted to emphasize environmental
issues, especially in the last two or three years of his second mandate.”
The Globe and Mail (August 4, 1999) reported Chretien saying, “it is a
sector that is becoming, that is, important to me.” The Globe further
reported
that, “Mr. Chretien described Mr. Anderson as both a senior minister and
specialist in the environment. He also signaled that environmental issues
may get more attention in the second half of the Liberal mandate.”
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ANDERSON WON`T WILT UNDER FIRE
David Anderson has two qualities. He stands by his principles on
environmental issues, and he has developed substantial experience in
dealing with the provinces and other government agencies on tough
issues. He’s had to go head to head with his own province, B.C., on
pushing a commercial fisheries conservation management plan. He
has both the experience and the connections to stick handle tough
issues through both the provincial and federal governments. One
example, as a young M.P. in 1972, Anderson took the then federal
Minister of the Dept of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
(DIAND) Jean Chretien on a hike along the West Coast trail on
Vancouver Island in an effort to convince Chretien of the worth in
creating a national park there, over the advice of DIAND senior
officials. It worked.
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ISSUES FACING THE NEW ENVIRONMENT MINISTER
There are a number of key issues that David Anderson will have to
manage in order to reverse that environmental degradation that has
slowly permeated Canada. He will not have to deal much with the
new Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), an issue
which consumed previous ministers. The new CEPA in Bill C 32
was sent by the House of Commons to the Senate on June 1, 1999
for approval. Here in order of priority are the issues,
o Legislation for the protection of endangered species and
their habitat
o Additional financial resources for Environment Canada to
carry out existing responsibilities
o Fixing the “Harmonization Agreement” with the provinces where
they are supposed to, in goodwill, carry out what was federal
responsibilities
o Strengthen Canada’s delivery of greenhouse gas reductions
according
to the Kyoto Protocol that Canada signed
o Kick starting ARET and VCR which are good voluntary environmental
measures (VEM’s) that have languished without drivers and
adherence
to principles that make voluntary measures work
o Expanding the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) which is
a regulatory requirement that spawns voluntary action by industry
o prepare to step in when provinces repeatedly and flagrantly
fail to
implement CCME Canada wide standards and federal law and
guidelines
o educate governments on the economic benefits of environmental
enhancement and promote the Canadian environment industry