Bill S-216

2nd Session, 40th Parliament,

57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009

senate of canada

BILL S-216

An Act to amend the Federal Sustainable Development Act and the Auditor General Act (involvement of Parliament)

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

FEDERAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ACT

1. Subsection 7(2) of the Federal Sustainable Development Act is replaced by the following:

(2) The Office shall, at least once every three years after the day on which this Act comes into force, provide the Minister with a report on the progress of the federal government in implementing the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. The Minister shall cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the Minister receives it.

2. Subsection 9(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(3) The Minister shall submit a draft of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy to the Sustainable Development Advisory Council, the appropriate committee of each House of Parliament and the public for review and comment, for which the Minister shall allow a period of not less than 120 days.

3. Subsection 10(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(3) A Federal Sustainable Development Strategy that is tabled in a House of Parliament is deemed to be referred to the standing committee of that House that normally considers matters relating to the environment or to any other committee that the House may designate for the purposes of this section.

4. Subsections 11(1) and (2) of the Act are replaced by the following:

11. (1) Each Minister presiding over a department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act, or an agency named in the schedule of this Act shall cause the department or agency to prepare a sustainable development strategy containing objectives and plans for the department or agency that complies with and contributes to the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, appropriate to the department or agency’s mandate and shall cause the strategy to be laid before each House of Parliament within one year after the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy is first tabled in a House of Parliament under section 10.

(2) A minister to whom subsection (1) applies shall cause the sustainable development strategy of the department or agency to be updated at least once every three years and shall cause each updated strategy to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the next 15 days on which that House is sitting after the strategy is updated.

AUDITOR GENERAL ACT

5. The portion of section 21.1 of the Auditor General Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

21.1 In addition to carrying out the functions referred to in subsection 23(3), the purpose of the Commissioner is to provide sustainable development monitoring and reporting on the progress of category I departments towards sustainable development, which is a continually evolving concept based on the integration of social, economic and environmental concerns, and which may be achieved by, among other things,

6. (1) Paragraph 23(1)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(a) the extent to which category I departments have contributed to meeting the targets set out in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and have met the objectives, and implemented the plans, set out in their own sustainable development strategies laid before the Houses of Parliament under section 11 of the Federal Sustainable Development Act; and

(2) The portion of subsection 23(2) of the Act before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

(2) The Commissioner shall, on behalf of the Auditor General, report annually to Parliament concerning anything that the Commissioner considers should be brought to the attention of Parliament in relation to environmental and other aspects of sustainable development, including

(a) the extent to which category I departments have contributed to meeting the targets set out in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and have met the objectives, and implemented the plans, set out in their own sustainable development strategies laid before the Houses of Parliament under section 11 of the Federal Sustainable Development Act;

(3) Subsections 23(4) and (5) of the Act are replaced by the following:

(4) The results of any assessment conducted under subsection (3) shall be included in the report referred to in subsection (2) or in the annual report, or in any of the three additional reports, referred to in subsection 7(1).

(5) The report required by subsection (2) shall be submitted to the Speakers of the Senate and the House of Commons and the Speakers shall lay it before their respective Houses on any of the next 15 days on which that House is sitting after the Speaker receives the report.