The State of Canada's Environment — 1996

Acknowledgements

Canada has developed a tradition of broad participation for national environmental reporting. In keeping with this tradition, “The State of Canada's Environment - 1996” is the result of a complex, consultative process involving hundreds of Canadians. Indeed, the process of preparing this report has been as important as the final document itself; for, in coming together to share data, information, and perspectives, the contributors have strengthened the collective national understanding of Canada's environment.

Chapter Coordinating Committees, comprising key public and private stakeholders with knowledge of the places and issues covered by the chapter or section, directed the nongovernment consultants who prepared most of the drafts. Guided by the conceptual framework for the report and chapter templates, each committee determined the table of contents for its chapter, provided data and information, reviewed drafts, circulated drafts to a wider circle of reviewers, and generally oversaw the preparation of the chapter. A member of the staff of Environment Canada's State of the Environment Directorate (SOED) chaired each committee. Committee members are named in the acknowledgements at the end of each chapter. We are indebted to each of them for contributing their scientific knowledge, analytical skills, and diverse perspectives to this report.

Public Advisory Committee on State of the Environment Reporting

Since 1988, a Public Advisory Committee on State of the Environment Reporting (PAC) has advised Environment Canada and Statistics Canada. Comprising 10 individuals from environmental organizations, academia, and the private sector, the committee contributed greatly to the conceptual framework, structure, and contents of the 1991 and 1996 reports. During their 3-year terms, members monitored progress, commented on methodology, and reviewed chapters or components. Gratitude for their guidance is extended to the following individuals.

Chairs

Dr. Nancy Olewiler (1994–95)
Department of Economics
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia

Dr. George Francis (1991–94)
Department of Geography
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario

Prof. Peter Jacobs (1989–91)
Faculté de l'aménagement
École d'architecture du paysage
Université de Montréal
Montréal (Québec)

Members

Dr. Roberta Bondar
Faculty of Kinesiology
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario

Dr. Raymond Brouzes
Alcan Aluminum Ltd.
Montreal, Quebec

Ms. Janice Harvey
Conservation Council of New Brunswick
Fredericton, New Brunswick

Ms. Doreen Henley
Canadian Manufacturers Association
Ottawa, Ontario

Dr. R.A. (Tony) Hodge
Victoria, British Columbia

Mr. John Lilley
Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists
Sherwood Park, Alberta

Mr. Rob Macintosh
Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development
Drayton Valley, Alberta

Ms. Inka Milewski
Conservation Council of New Brunswick
St. Andrews, New Brunswick

Dr. William Rees
School of Community and Regional Planning
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia

Ms. Judith Smith
Torrie Smith Associates
Orleans, Ontario

Mr. Carl Sonnen
Informetrica Limited
Ottawa, Ontario

Ms. Kelly Anne Steinhauer
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, Newfoundland

Dr. Moire Wadleigh
Department of Earth Sciences
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, Newfoundland

Commissioned reviewers

To complement the 34 external reviews provided by PAC members, more than 40 additional external peer reviews were commissioned from recognized experts outside government. The thoughtful comments received from the commissioned reviewers increased the balance, accuracy, and completeness of the report. Acknowledged at the end of each of the chapters that they critiqued, these experts were instrumental in providing Canadians with an authoritative report.

State of the Environment National Network

To ensure that all appropriate federal, provincial, and territorial agencies were involved and to capitalize on existing intergovernmental mechanisms, a national network for The State of Canada's Environment — 1996 was established. In total, 14 federal organizations and all 10 provinces and two territories responded to the invitation to participate.

Each organization designated one or more representatives (1) to serve as the official point(s) of contact for all matters relating to the 1996 National SOE Report, (2) to finalize tables of contents for specific chapters, (3) to coordinate their agency's headquarters and regional input to specific chapters, and (4) to guide all material through their organization's review processes. Fulfilling these obligations involved considerable liaising within their organization and with Environment Canada. Given the ongoing significant downsizing and reorganization at all levels of government, these responsibilities added to already heavy workloads. To the following people who served on the SOE National Network, appreciation is extended for their valuable contribution.

Provinces and territories

Alberta: Ms. Aniko Szojka-Pernell and Mr. Terry Zdan, Alberta Environment

British Columbia: Ms. Linda Hannah, Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks

Manitoba: Ms. Tammy Gibson, Dr. Emil Kucera, and Ms. Laurie Streich, Department of Environment

Newfoundland: Mr. Tom Graham, Department of Environment and Lands

New Brunswick: Dr. Nabil Elhadi, Department of the Environment

Northwest Territories: Ms. Kathryn Emmett, Department of Renewable Resources

Nova Scotia: Ms. Frances Martin and Mr. Tim Smith, Department of the Environment

Ontario: Ms. Beverley Hanna Thorpe and Mr. John Stager, Ministry of Environment and Energy

Prince Edward Island: Mrs. Christine MacKinnon, Department of Environmental Resources

Quebec: Monsieur Roger Lemire, Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Faune

Saskatchewan: Ms. Lynda Langford and Ms. Laura Lawton, Department of Environment and Resource Management

Yukon: Ms. Yvonne Harris, Department of Renewable Resources

Federal agencies

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: Ms. Christine Nymark, Environment Bureau

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Mr. Tom Babcock, Policy Development

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Mr. David D'Amour, Research Branch

Canadian Heritage: Mr. John Carruthers and Mr. Tim Sookocheff, Parks Canada

Department of Fisheries and Oceans: Mr. Ken Yuen, Habitat and Environmental Sciences Directorate, and Dr. Gary L. Boyd, Fisheries and Oceans Science Directorate

Environment Canada: Mr. Bruce Angle, Atmospheric Environment Service; Mr. Bill Appleby, Environmental Protection Service; Dr. Vic Bartnik and Mr. Donald Bernard, Pacific and Yukon Region; Mr. Steve Blight, Policy and Communications; Mme. Lynn Cleary, Quebec Region; Mr. George Coates, Environmental Protection Service; Mr. Rob Cross, Atmospheric Environment Service; Mr. John Eby, Policy and Communications; Ms. Susan Eros, Prairie and Northern Region; Mr. Rick Jones, Atmospheric Environment Service; Dr. George Finney, Atlantic Region; Ms. Nancy Harris and Mr. Phil Kurys, Policy and Communications; Ms. Nicole Lavigne, Quebec Region; Mr. Simon Llewellyn, Ontario Region; Dr. Art Martell, Pacific and Yukon Region; Mr. Gerald McKeating, Prairie and Northern Region; Mr. Hugh O'Neill, Atlantic Region; Mr. Darrell Piekarz and Mr. Harvey Shear, Ontario Region; and Dr. Brian Wilson, Pacific and Yukon Region

Federal Office of Regional Development (Quebec): Ms. Carol Collier, Interministerial Liaison

Finance Canada: Mr. Larry Weatherly, Economic Development Policy Branch

Health Canada: Ms. Patty Birkwood, Environmental Health Directorate

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada: Mr. Paul Cuillerier, Lands and Environment Branch and Mr. Ricki Hurst, Northern Affairs Program

Industry Canada: Monsieur Lucien Bradet, Environmental Affairs Directorate

Natural Resources Canada: Mr. John Forster and Mr. Richard Côté, Canadian Forest Service; Mr. Glenn Kendall, Mineral Policy and Planning; and Mr. Alan Turner and Mr. Grant Macpherson, Energy Policy Branch

Statistics Canada: Mr. Michael Bordt, Mr. Craig Gaston, and Mr. Bruce Mitchell, National Accounts and Environment Division

Transport Canada: Mr. Robin Lewis, Intergovernmental Relations and Environmental Affairs

Western Economic Diversification: Dr. David LeMarquand, Executive Services

In addition to the above people designated as contacts for the SOE National Network, others within and outside of government made exceptional contributions to specific chapters or groups of chapters. These contributors are identified at the end of each chapter. Our thanks go out to all of them for their tireless efforts to enhance the quality of the report. Special thanks go to Dr. C.I. Jackson, who, in addition to providing insightful comments on many drafts, prepared introductory and concluding material for Parts III and IV.

Editors and translators

When hundreds of scientists and contractors are involved in the preparation of a document consisting of over 450 000 words, the result is an editor's nightmare. To render so many different writing styles into a cohesive document is a challenge. We were fortunate to have the assistance of several extremely capable people. Susan Burns, Senior Scientific Editor with the Canadian Wildlife Service, along with Gary Ironside, of SOED, established the editorial procedures for the report. Susan served as Editor-in-Chief and coordinated the four talented editors who accomplished the daunting job of rendering the work of dozens of authors into a cohesive report. David Francis, Lanark House Communications (Toronto), Jennifer Jarvis (Ottawa), and Jane Whitney (Ottawa) worked as a team to transform many diverse manuscripts into a form and language appropriate for a nontechnical audience. Elizabeth Sanborn of the Translation Service of Environment Canada made an important contribution to this process by overseeing the translation of French source material into English. Marla Sheffer (Ottawa) was the copy editor who brought consistency to the 16 chapters and ensured a polished final product. Collectively, their eye for detail and accuracy and their editorial expertise ensured a highly readable report.

Working under tight deadlines, a group of dedicated translators and editors helped produce the French version of this report. Sincere appreciation is extended to Jacques Pellerin, Chief of Translation Services (Biology) of the Translation Bureau of Public Works and Government Services Canada. Special thanks also go to Annie Meyere, who coordinated the translation team, and to the following staff who translated numerous drafts and revisions of chapter manuscripts: Hélène Bernard, Jean-Blaise Bourque, Denise Campillo, Suzanne Chartrand, Maryse Chynchuck, Yves Desautels, Pierre DeTonnancour, Lynne Dwyer, Serge Gagné, Marie-France Guéraud, Michel Laliberté, François Lanctôt, Louis Panneton, and Robert Papineau. Marielle Racette, Director of Environment Canada's Translation Service at the start of the project, and her successor, Jocelyn Houle, were extremely helpful in orchestrating translation arrangements. Raymonde Lanthier (Repentigny) again served as the overall editor for the French edition. Her meticulous work and attention to quality were much appreciated. Raymonde supervised three additional editors who assisted with specific portions of the report: Madeleine Choquette (Ottawa), Normand Denis (Gatineau), and Guy Rivest (Aylmer). Our thanks go to all of them for helping to ensure a high quality French edition.

Technical production personnel

The State of Canada's Environment — 1996 has been made available on the Internet and on CD-ROM, in addition to the print format version. Preparation of the electronic versions of the report necessitated the conversion of all text and graphics files into a format suitable for electronic media. This task was ably accomplished under difficult time constraints by Jason Flick, Brent Landry, and Scott FitzGerald of Libraxus Incorporated (Ottawa), Raymonde Durand of Graphics Plus⁺ (Ottawa), and Ron Gauthier, Rachelle Croteau, and Sandra Maxsom of the Knowledge Integration Division, Environment Canada.

Jean Racicot, Communications Airelle (Repentigny), produced the French version of the majority of the figures and tables. Banfield-Seguin Ltd. (Ottawa) provided design services for all versions of the report.

"Teacher's Place" contributors

Another innovation in 1996 was the development of "Teacher's Place," a set of classroom activities that draws on information contained in The State of Canada's Environment — 1996. This package of teaching aids, aimed at the intermediate level but adaptable to lower and higher levels, was made available on the Internet and was included in the CD-ROM version of the Report. The initiative was undertaken in collaboration with Canada's SchoolNet. A focus group of teachers from across Canada provided initial ideas for the project. Appreciation is expressed to Angela Couto, Emily Clark Dingle, Michèle Fréchet, Robena Maclaren, Peggy March, Tina McPhee, Joanne Meyer, Armando Teves, Paul Van Zant, and Wayne Wolsfeld. Assistance and feedback were also provided by Bill Bogers, Dickson Mansfield, and Patti Smith. Wanda James designed the page layout and provided the visual enhancements. Special thanks are owing to Kirsty Dickson, Cindy Hough, and Daniel Merritt, the three teachers who designed, developed and diffused the Teacher's Place teaching activities.

State of the Environment Directorate

Senior managers provided vision and support throughout the report's preparation. Jim Collinson, former Assistant Deputy Minister, strongly advocated the use of an ecosystem approach and an ecological framework, and Ian Rutherford, Director General of SOED, provided a consistent vision and operational and moral support to staff, in addition to reviewing all chapters as part of the approval process.

Development of the ecosystem approach was spearheaded by Ed Wiken, Director of the Ecozone Analysis Branch, and his staff. Valuable contributions to the contextual framework and chapter templates were made by George Kowalski, Ian Marshall, Paul Quinn, Patricia Roberts-Pichette, Peter Rodgers, Paul Rump, and Ian Rutherford. In addition, Ian Marshall and Ed Wiken, working with Scott Smith (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) and other members of the Ecological Stratification Working Group, made a significant contribution in guiding the completion of the National Ecological Framework for Canada, which provides considerably more detailed background information about the terrestrial ecozones and ecoregions than was previously available.

Because the legislated mandate to prepare this report rests with Environment Canada on behalf of the federal government, the greatest responsibility fell to the staff of SOED who served as chapter coordinators. They established the Chapter Coordinating Committees or other consultative mechanisms, carefully choosing a combination of key stakeholders to represent the full range of perspectives. Chapter coordinators led the efforts to establish a table of contents; hired and supervised contractors; actively solicited data, information, and case studies; analyzed statistics; reviewed progressive drafts and provided detailed comments; coordinated the review process; undertook revision and writing of sections; worked with editors to ensure accurate texts; collaborated with graphic designers; proofread innumerable drafts and checked illustrations and references; and generally ensured the completion of chapters. Each staff member also served as a technical expert for specific issues or ecozones, providing appropriate data and information to all other coordinators and reviewing drafts of other chapters. These tasks required hard work, sound scientific knowledge, and good organizational skills.

Chairing the Chapter Coordinating Committees and arbitrating amongst the strongly held and often divergent views required diplomacy, skill, and stamina. There was seldom unanimity, sometimes consensus, and always healthy debate. At times, enormous pressure was brought to bear on the coordinators. Their own organization was reduced by half during the early stages of the report preparation, and most would lose their own positions upon completion of the project. That this report was completed under such conditions is testimony to the individual commitment to the environment and collective professionalism of the following chapter coordinators:

John C. Anderson
Robert R. Audet
Wayne Bond
Harry Hirvonen
Gary Ironside
George Kowalski
Annick LeHénaff
Asoka Mendis
V. Neimanis
Dennis O'Farrell
Christian Pupp
Paul Quinn
Ken Redpath
John R. Reid
Tony Turner
E. Neville Ward
Ed Wiken

Such an ambitious undertaking required an overall coordinator to help move the project through its various stages. National Coordinator Paul Quinn's hard work and ability to remain calm and effective in the face of endless challenges were essential to coordinating the project and promoting consistency and quality throughout the report.

In a period of dramatic technological change, maintaining the SOE data base and transforming complex and often incompatible data sets into meaningful and accurate information was challenging. The following team was responsible for data management, and produced most of the figures and tables: Neil Spooner and Douglas Duggan, who worked to meet the requirements of chapter coordinators and coped with the inevitable problems and limitations of the data, and Nicole Cardinal, who prepared many of the graphics. Yvan Laframboise, Jean-Marie Viau, Raymond Ménard, and Tom Pierce also contributed technical support to the overall 1996 SOE report and related products.

The professional people who supported the researchers and managers were an integral part of the team. They maintained their professionalism and good humour over the duration of the project. Jim Moyes brought much-needed order to the many federal-provincial and Public Advisory Committee meetings. Jacquie Manchevsky contributed to the development and implementation of the marketing strategy. Danièle Goulet coordinated several stages of the technical production. Much appreciation for their efficiency and support is also extended to Gisèle Girouard, Lucie Lambert, Lise Lapointe, Michèle Larose, and Danielle Lavergne, as well as to Bina Deeljur, Denise Landry, Lynda Gravel, Nataly Longpré, and Manon Larocque.

Other SOED staff, although not assigned primarily to the preparation of The State of Canada's Environment — 1996, contributed through their ongoing work in related areas. Anne Kerr, Director of the Indicators Branch, and her staff, provided the environmental indicator material for inclusion in the report. Janet Lamb, who was heavily involved in the review process, and Peter Rodgers, applied the analytical capability of the indicators data management system to assist chapter coordinators throughout the preparation of the report.

Over the years, co-op students and others were most helpful in assisting staff with scientific research and the preparation of graphics and manuscripts. For their enthusiasm and energy and much needed support, appreciation is extended to Kirk Bergey, Jean Bjornson, Louis Cournoyer, Jean-François Gagné, Gabriel Gagnon, Brandi Lee Hicks, Ignace Kayijamahe, Guadalupe Mateos-Marcos, Meghan McKellar, Margery Moore, Stéphane Nourry, Matt Ordower, Lori Rivière, Subo Sinnathamby, Charles Stanfield, Geoff Woods, and Jeremy Vink.

As Chief of the Reports Division, Wendy Simpson-Lewis directed the work of the team of chapter coordinators, and was the key person behind the development and implementation of the complex process required to coordinate the hundreds of individuals whose combined efforts ultimately led to the completion of final manuscripts. Her hard work, dedication to the highest standards, and constant focus on meeting the needs of clients set an example for everyone. Despite her heavy workload, Wendy herself wrote key sections of text. The report owes much to her boundless energy, detailed reviews of numerous draft manuscripts, writing skills, and sound advice.

It fell to Jean Séguin, Chief, Marketing and Production Division to oversee publication of the report, Canada's most comprehensive environmental information base, on the Internet as well as on CD-ROM and in a hard-copy edition. He was a constant driving force in the development of innovative new approaches and the application of new technology for the report's production. Jean's enthusiasm, hard work, and vision enabled him to forge creative partnerships and do what had not been done before.

Ultimately, overall responsibility for the preparation and technical production of The State of Canada's Environment — 1996 rested with Wendy Simpson-Lewis and Jean Séguin, under the direction of Rosaline Frith (Director, Reporting Branch). The success of the project required superior leadership to overcome challenges, to make difficult decisions, and to ensure that the ultimate goal was met. Although management responsibilities were shared by many of those involved, without the overall leadership provided by Rosaline, this report would not have been completed.

Collectively all these people have made it possible for Canadians, whatever their requirement, to access more information more quickly than ever before. As Canada's third national SOE report, may it be a springboard to true progress toward sustainability.