On March 23, 2017, the National Assembly adopted Bill 102, a major reform of the Environment Quality Act which was to come into force one year later, on March 23, 2018, five years ago. years. What was done. With the exception of a single provision, Article 118.5 relating to the creation of the public register of access to environmental information which, according to the adopted law, must come into force “on a date to be fixed by decree of the government “.
However, six years after the adoption of this law and eight years after the announcement by the Couillard government to create such a public registry in the white paper that preceded the tabling of Bill 102, there is still no government decree. in this sense.
The creation of the public environmental register was nevertheless presented by the government, at the time, as the centerpiece that should correct the main shortcomings observed in terms of access to environmental information and one of the great advances of this bill for the Quebec population.
For six years now, the ministry responsible for the environment claims to be “working” on the implementation of the public register to all those who seek information on a possible entry into force. It seems that it is not just the SAAQ that is having difficulty with the technological tools intended to “facilitate” the lives of citizens! I’m not a conspirator at all, but I can’t believe that “technical difficulties” can justify such delays. Especially since since 2018, all documents sent to the ministry by applicants for authorization must be in digital form.
It should be recalled that article 118.5, which is due to come into force, one day perhaps, specifically concerns the various applications for environmental authorizations submitted to the Minister, generally by companies, as well as the authorizations issued.
It provides, among other things, that “all the information, documents, studies and analyzes referred to in section 27 which relates to the documents and information that must be contained in a ministerial authorization, as well as the other information, documents or studies forming an integral part of it under another provision of the Environmental Quality Act are public”, as well as made quickly and easily accessible to the public through the new register.
This addition was intended to correct one of the main shortcomings of the previous law, which meant that the authorization conditions issued by the Minister generally remained secret. Consequently, the Quebec population could not know the environmental authorization conditions of many projects and the established right of any citizen to take an environmental injunction to “enforce the authorization conditions” of a project became completely illusory.
This situation was the subject of much criticism and Bill 102, tabled in June 2016, made the public disclosure of all authorization conditions a major issue and a significant step forward. Initially, the bill did not provide for any exception to this disclosure obligation, even for any type of document submitted by authorization applicants.
In December 2016, during work in parliamentary committee on the bill, an unfortunate amendment was adopted, specifying that applicants for environmental authorization would benefit from the restrictions set out in articles 23 and 24 of the so-called Access to Documents Act. public bodies, restrictions giving them a total right of veto on the disclosure of these documents by the public register to be created. This was a serious setback, even from the situation before!
Fortunately, thanks to the vigilance of the Center québécois du droit de l’environnement, a mobilization campaign led Minister David Heurtel to propose a compromise solution and to withdraw sections 23 and 24 of the so-called Access to Documents Act. public bodies as restrictions that may affect the public registry. Much to the chagrin of business groups who thought they had succeeded!
However, the fact that the law passed in 2017 provides that the 118.5 register will not come into force until a date provided for by the adoption of a government decree offers business combinations an “emergency exit” and a wonderful opportunity to lobby the department in order to delay this implementation as much as possible, if not prevent it. In this regard, there is an important precedent, since in 1978, during the initial adoption of the Environment Quality Act, a section specifically provided for the creation of an assistance fund aimed at encouraging the participation citizen during BAPE hearings.
But this article was also to come into force at a later date, “on a date to be determined by the adoption of a government decree”. You can guess the rest, such a decree was never adopted and the article in question was finally repealed in 2017! The population still has no financial assistance to participate in the public hearings of the BAPE, 45 years after the adoption of a law that provided for it!
Will it be the same for the creation of a public registry promoting environmental information to this same population? I dare to hope not, but the question arises… It is up to the CAQ government to answer it. Quickly !
