Ken McKinnon was looking forward to appearing before the Senate committee reviewing changes to the Yukon Environment and Socio-economic Assessment Act.

But the invitation for the acting chair of the assessment board to appear next Tuesday was rescinded this week by the Senate committee.

Senate committee clerk Tim Smith wrote to the assessment board indicating the committee had reviewed its witness list along with the board’s written submission provided in mid-September.

“The committee wishes to thank you very much for the presentation/submission you emailed the Clerk, which clearly outlines the Board’s position,” Smith wrote.

“The committee greatly appreciates it and will consider it as part of their examination of Bill S-6. Therefore an appearance in person will not be necessary.”

McKinnon, however, said in an interview Thursday afternoon he thought it would have been helpful if he did appear.

In watching the Senate hearings into proposed amendments to the assessment act, there is a lot of information passed along during the questions and answers between members of the Senate and those testifying, he said.

McKinnon said he would have liked the opportunity to provide an oral explanation of the issues raised in the board’s five-page submission.

The board, its six designated offices in the Yukon and the executive committee, has after all handled 2,000 assessments in its nine years of existence, McKinnon pointed out.

He said he was hoping to use his hour addressing the Senate committee to provide more detail regarding the primary concern the board identified in its written submission.

“That is what we were hoping, yep.”

McKinnon pointed out, and the Senate clerk noted in his correspondence, the proposed amendments to the act still need to go through the House of Commons and the board can ask to appear then as well.

In its submission, the board emphasizes its concern with the proposed 16-month timeline to complete assessments at the executive committee level.

In that 16 months, the board will be required to review the application, determine if it has all the information it needs to make a full assessment, and then complete the assessment, the acting chair explained.

He said as it is, the board determines first if the information received from an applicant is adequate to make an assessment, and then the clock starts.

The executive committee, he said, has never had a problem completing the assessment within the 16 months once it has all the information, except for one case of unusual circumstances.

The adequacy review can almost be overwhelming on its own, said McKinnon.

He said the Casino mine application, for instance, is five volumes long, with eight volumes of supporting documents, for a total of 7,000 pages of highly technical detail.

There have been six or seven consultants going over the proposal for the Yukon’s biggest mine ever to determine if the board has all the information it needs to make an assessment, McKinnon said.

“We are saying if adequacy needs to be determined in that 16 months, we could be in trouble.”

McKinnon said there are amendments to the act which would allow the federal minister responsible to extend the 16-month deadline by two months, and another two months and another two months – indefinitely.

But knocking on the federal minister’s door every two months for an extension diminishes the certainty the review process is meant to create, the acting chair suggested.

McKinnon said the executive committee prefers to have the adequacy review outside the 16-month window, and then start the clock once it has determined it has all the information it needs to make an assessment.

“A 16-month time limit that includes the adequacy review period could curtail the Executive Committee’s ability to effectively and efficiently assess more complex or controversial projects,” says the board’s written submission to the Senate committee.

The board’s submission does express support for the legislative amendment that emphasizes the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act does not apply in the Yukon, so that there is no question the local assessment board is the only review agency.

Similarly, the board supports legislation which allows it to discontinue assessments after a certain period of time, so that they don’t stay on the books needlessly.

While it does not object to the new nine-month timeline the designated offices will have to complete assessments, it does point out the current six-month deadline is more than adequate, as most are completed in 80 days, says the submission.

The submission also emphasizes support for the proposal allowing designated offices to require ongoing monitoring to measure effects and increasing activity, just as the executive committee does now.

McKinnon declined to comment on a key concern raised with the Senate committee last week by Yukon First Nations and local environmental organizations.

First Nations are concerned about the proposal that would permit the federal minister to dictate assessment guidelines to the board, and would allow the federal minister to transfer his responsibilities to the Yukon minister responsible.

McKinnon said those are matters of political policy, while the board’s concern is focused on the legislative tools they have to work with.

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