Dear Allyson,
Environmental stewardship was first initiated as part of Canada's
Green Plan (1990) by the federal government in an effort to ensure all
government agencies meet their targets for sustainable development. In
1992, the Office of Federal Environmental Stewardship (OFES) was
established to promote the Code of Environmental Stewardship. It was
the OFES's job to oversee all government agencies, assess the
environmental impacts of their operations and keep up-to-date
information on sustainable development readily available for all
levels of government. The OFES terminated its activities on 31 March
1997. It was successful in helping to promote a growing awareness of
environmental issues at both the government level and public sectors
and it helped to pave the way for future legislation.
I think whether you consider Canada's environmental stewardship a
success or not, depends upon which point of view you are addressing
the issue from. Environmentalists will tell you it didn't go far
enough to protect the environment, its budget was not large enough to
enable it to make a major impact, and Canada's Crown Lands should've
been included in the Code (which they were not). However, Canada's
view toward protection of its natural resources (including nature and
wildlife, forests, fisheries and oceans, air and water pollution,
waste management, the weather and climate changes, etc) has been
widening since those earlier days and this can only prove to be a
positive step towards someday living our lives in a more sustainable
manner. If you repeat the Google search that I have linked below, you
will find a long list of environmental studies and community projects
that are taking place in Canada from sea to sea, thanks in part to the
OFES and Canada's Green Plan.
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (1999) (CEPA), (
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-15.31/text.html ), now spells out the
guidelines and codes of practice to promote sustainable development.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, (
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-15.2/text.html ), "is administered by
the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA.) The CEAA is an
independent agency that reports directly to the Minister ... A review
of the first five years of operation of the Act is currently
underway."
The Green LaneTM, Environment Canada's World Wide Web site
( http://www3.ec.gc.ca/EnviroRegs/Eng/SearchDetail.cfm?intAct=1000 )
Additional Links:
Environment Canada's Green Lane, "Environment Canada's Internet
resource for weather and environmental information", including
Canadian legislation and regulations relating to the environment.
The Green LaneTM, Environment Canada's World Wide Web site
( http://www.ec.gc.ca/envhome.html )
The Green Lane site is divided up into the following regions:
Atlantic: ( http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/index_e.html )
Québec: ( http://lavoieverte.qc.ec.gc.ca/envcan/indexe.html )
Ontario: ( http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/or-home.html )
Prairie & Northern Region: ( http://www.pnr-rpn.ec.gc.ca/index.en.html
)
Pacific & Yukon: ( http://www.pyr.ec.gc.ca/index_e.htm )
The Green LaneTM, Environment Canada's World Wide Web site
Search Strategy:
Google URL:
( ://www.google.ca/search?as_q=Environmental+Stewardship+successful+Canada&num=100&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=images
)
Search terms used:
Environmental Stewardship successful Canada
I hope this helps - please do not hesitate to get back in touch if you
need clarification or if I've misunderstood your question.
Sincerely,
Hummer |
