Workshops

Canadians' comments about their experience with CEPA 1999 are important to our preparations for the Parliamentary Review. To gather these comments, Environment Canada and Health Canada organized six workshops across the country which were held in late January and early February, 2005.

The purposes of these workshops included:

• Hearing about Canadians' experience with CEPA 1999 and in particular the challenges, which they feel need to be addressed during the Parliamentary Review.
• Inviting feedback from Canadians on the options that Environment Canada and Health Canada officials had identified as priorities for consideration in preparing for the Parliamentary Review.

All workshops were open to anyone with an interest in CEPA 1999; there was no registration fee for attendees. The workshops were structured around the draft scoping paper and were held in the following cities:

• Halifax
• Toronto
• Montreal
• Edmonton
• Yellowknife
• Vancouver

Over 1,500 organizations, associations, networks, groups and individuals with an interest in CEPA 1999 were directly contacted about the public engagement opportunities and were given information on how to get involved. In total, approximately 470 individuals attended the six regional workshops. These individuals were affiliated with a broad cross-section of interests including: all levels of government, aboriginal groups, industry, business and the natural resource sectors (e.g., farming, fisheries and forestry), environmental non-government organizations, labour, public health and consumer groups and individual members of the Canadian public.

A summary report highlighting the key issues, options and messages that were heard during the sessions has been prepared and is now available.

A summary report of the web-based comments received on this site has also been prepared and is now available.