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Bill C-83

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42-43-44 ELIZABETH II

CHAPTER 43

An Act to amend the Auditor General Act

[Assented to 15 December, 1995]

R.S., c. A-17; 1992, c. 54; 1994, c. 32

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

1. The long title of the Auditor General Act is replaced by the following:

An Act respecting the office of the Auditor General of Canada and sustainable development monitoring and reporting

2. Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

``appropriate Minister''
« ministre compétent »

``appropriate Minister'' has the meaning assigned by section 2 of the Financial Administration Act;

``category I department''
« ministère de catégorie I »

``category I department'' means

      (a) any department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act,

      (b) any department in respect of which a direction has been made under subsec tion 24(3), and

      (c) any department, as defined in the Financial Administration Act, set out in the schedule;

``Commission er''
« commissaire »

``Commissioner'' means the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development appointed under subsection 15.1(1);

``sustainable development''
« développem ent durable »

``sustainable development'' means development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs;

``sustainable development strategy''
« stratégie de développemen t durable »

``sustainable development strategy'', with respect to a category I department, means the department's objectives, and plans of action, to further sustainable development.

1994, c. 32, s. 1

3. (1) The portion of subsection 7(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Annual and additional reports to the House of Commons

7. (1) The Auditor General shall report annually to the House of Commons and may make, in addition to any special report made under subsection 8(1) or 19(2) and the Commissioner's report under subsection 23(2), not more than three additional reports in any year to the House of Commons

(2) Subsection 7(2) of the Act is amended by striking out the word ``or'' at the end of paragraph (d), by adding the word ``or'' at the end of paragraph (e) and by adding the following after paragraph (e):

    (f) money has been expended without due regard to the environmental effects of those expenditures in the context of sustainable development.

4. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 15:

Appointment of Commissioner

15.1 (1) The Auditor General shall, in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act, appoint a senior officer to be called the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development who shall report directly to the Auditor General.

Commissioner 's duties

(2) The Commissioner shall assist the Auditor General in performing the duties of the Auditor General set out in this Act that relate to the environment and sustainable development.

5. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 21:

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Purpose

21.1 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,

    (a) the integration of the environment and the economy;

    (b) protecting the health of Canadians;

    (c) protecting ecosystems;

    (d) meeting international obligations;

    (e) promoting equity;

    (f) an integrated approach to planning and making decisions that takes into account the environmental and natural resource costs of different economic options and the economic costs of different environmental and natural resource options;

    (g) preventing pollution; and

    (h) respect for nature and the needs of future generations.

Petitions received

22. (1) Where the Auditor General receives a petition in writing from a resident of Canada about an environmental matter in the context of sustainable development that is the responsibility of a category I department, the Auditor General shall make a record of the petition and forward the petition within fifteen days after the day on which it is received to the appropriate Minister for the department.

Acknowledge ment to be sent

(2) Within fifteen days after the day on which the Minister receives the petition from the Auditor General, the Minister shall send to the person who made the petition an acknowledgement of receipt of the petition and shall send a copy of the acknowledgement to the Auditor General.

Minister to respond

(3) The Minister shall consider the petition and send to the person who made it a reply that responds to it, and shall send a copy of the reply to the Auditor General, within

    (a) one hundred and twenty days after the day on which the Minister receives the petition from the Auditor General; or

    (b) any longer time, where the Minister personally, within those one hundred and twenty days, notifies the person who made the petition that it is not possible to reply within those one hundred and twenty days and sends a copy of that notification to the Auditor General.

Multiple petitioners

(4) Where the petition is from more than one person, it is sufficient for the Minister to send the acknowledgement and reply, and the notification, if any, to one or more of the petitioners rather than to all of them.

Duty to monitor

23. (1) The Commissioner shall make any examinations and inquiries that the Commissioner considers necessary in order to monitor

    (a) the extent to which category I departments have met the objectives, and implemented the plans, set out in their sustainable development strategies laid before the House of Commons under section 24; and

    (b) the replies by Ministers required by subsection 22(3).

Commissioner 's report

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

    (a) the extent to which category I departments have met the objectives, and implemented the plans, set out in their sustainable development strategies laid before that House under section 24;

    (b) the number of petitions recorded as required by subsection 22(1), the subject-matter of the petitions and their status; and

    (c) the exercising of the authority of the Governor in Council under any of subsections 24(3) to (5).

Submission and tabling of report

(3) The report required by subsection (2) shall be submitted to the Speaker of the House of Commons and shall be laid before that House by the Speaker on any of the next fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the Speaker receives it.

Strategies to be tabled

24. (1) The appropriate Minister for each category I department shall cause the department to prepare a sustainable development strategy for the department and shall cause the strategy to be laid before the House of Commons

    (a) within two years after this subsection comes into force; or

    (b) in the case of a department that becomes a category I department on a day after this subsection comes into force, before the earlier of the second anniversary of that day and a day fixed by the Governor in Council pursuant to subsection (4).

Updated strategies to be tabled

(2) The appropriate Minister for the category I department shall cause the department's sustainable development strategy to be updated at least every three years and shall cause each updated strategy to be laid before the House of Commons on any of the next fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the strategy is updated.

Governor in Council direction

(3) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the appropriate Minister for a department not named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act, direct that the requirements of subsections (1) and (2) apply in respect of the department.

Date fixed by Governor in Council

(4) On the recommendation of the appropriate Minister for a department that becomes a category I department after this subsection comes into force, the Governor in Council may, for the purpose of subsection (1), fix the day before which the sustainable development strategy of the department shall be laid before the House of Commons.

Regulations

(5) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, make regulations prescribing the form in which sustainable development strategies are to be prepared and the information required to be contained in them.

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