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Bill C-378

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1st Session, 36th Parliament,
46-47 Elizabeth II, 1997-98

The House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-378

An Act to amend the Export Development Act

R.S., c. E-20; R.S., c. 1 (4th Supp.); 1993, c. 26

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

1. Subsection 10(1) of the Export Development Act is replaced by the following:

Purposes

10. (1) The Corporation is established for the purposes of supporting and developing, directly or indirectly,

    (a) Canada's export trade, and

    (b) Canadian capacity

      (i) to engage in export trade, and

      (ii) to respond to international business opportunities

with a view to achieving or maintaining a healthy environment and a healthy economy by promoting sustainable development.

Definition

(1.01) In subsection (1) and section 10.1, ``sustainable development'' means development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

2. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 10:

Promotion of sustainable development by Corporation

10.1 (1) In exercising its powers under paragraphs 10(1.1)(a) to (d), (g), (h), (j) and (k) and section 23, the Corporation shall promote sustainable development.

Promotion of sustainable development by Minister

(2) The Minister of Finance, in prescribing any conditions of general application referred to in subsection 10(5) and the Minister, in authorizing any investment, transaction or class of transactions under subsection 23(6), shall promote sustainable development.

Promotion of sustainable development by Governor in Council

(3) In making any regulation under subsection 10(6), the Governor in Council shall promote sustainable development.

Considera-
tions in promoting sustainable development

(4) The Corporation, Minister, Minister of Finance and Governor in Council, as the case may be, shall, in exercising their respective powers referred to in subsection (1), (2) or (3), promote sustainable development by, among other things,

    (a) recognizing the interrelated nature of social, environmental and economic decisions;

    (b) integrating economic goals with environmental goals;

    (c) promoting intergenerational equity by supporting and developing trade that maintains the integrity of ecosystems for current and future generations;

    (d) approaching the extraction of and consumption of renewable natural resources in a manner that will conserve their capacity to regenerate natural capital;

    (e) approaching the extraction of and consumption of non-renewable natural resources in a manner that will not impact negatively on air, water and soil;

    (f) conducting quantifiable or qualitative environmental assessments of trading activities with negative external environmental impacts, which assessments should apply to every phase of the development and operation of those activities; and

    (g) respecting international environmental agreements that promote sustainable development.

Definition

(5) For the purposes of this section, ``Corporation'' includes any person who is authorized to act as an agent of the Corporation under paragraph 10(1.1)(i).

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