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Sustainable development means using natural and human resources to achieve social and economic goals without harming the environment upon which current and future generations depend. It requires the integration of environmental considerations into ongoing economic and social decision making. Law can be an important instrument in advancing sustainable development. It can articulate principles, establish processes and institutions, and set criteria and standards. As a department whose mandate centres on the law, Justice has an important role to play in sustainable development initiatives. The Department carries out three main types of activity: client services, policy and administration. The impact of each activity in furthering sustainable development is outlined below. Client Services The Department of Justice provides comprehensive legal support to client departments and agencies across the federal government. This role means that the Department participates in a broad range of sustainable development activity. Justice legal counsel working in this area need to be knowledgeable about many areas of law and keep pace with the constant evolution of law. During Justice's first Sustainable Development Strategy, the Department provided legal support for a wide range of important government initiatives, including Sustainable development legislation, such as the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act International sustainable development issues, such as those relating to the Canada-U.S. Pacific Salmon Treaty and Canada's trade agreements Environmental assessment of major commercial projects, such as commercial development of national parks and expansion of oil sands extraction facilities New legal frameworks for sustainable development, such as environmental protection frameworks under First Nations self-government agreements and treaties Justice adopted a number of measures to increase its capacity to provide the highest quality legal advice. The Department also provided legal training to clients to help them minimize the risk of legal problems. Justice has been a leader in alternative dispute resolution. The Dispute Resolution Fund, established jointly by Justice and Treasury Board, has funded several projects to apply alternative dispute resolution to issues with sustainable development implications. These included the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' Responsible Fishing Strategy and environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Justice also works closely with departments such as Environment Canada to help integrate alternative dispute resolution into management. The benefits of this approach include reducing the cost of litigation, thereby increasing the funds available for programs to benefit the public. Policy The social policy responsibilities of the Department of Justice are far-reaching and include such key areas as criminal justice, human rights, justice and families, children and youth, and accessibility, fairness and equality in the justice system. Having well-considered policy in these areas is crucial to successfully implementing sustainable development initiatives. Sustainable development includes enabling people to participate in decisions that affect them, and Justice policy activities help create and sustain key parts of the social infrastructure required for effective participation. Public input is an important ingredient in policy development. The Department has been a leader in promoting public participation in the sustainable communities context. In May 2000, Justice led a session on public participation in building safe communities at the annual conference of the International Association for Public Participation. More than 275 people from 12 countries participated and chose this as the best session at the three-day conference. Under the 1997 Strategy, Justice explored the linkages between its social policy mandate and sustainable development. Justice also joined the federal government's Sustainable Communities Initiatives, which will give a practical demonstration of how these important indirect linkages work. In these initiatives, Justice is working with two partner communities, the Bras d'Or Lakes area of Cape Breton and the Annapolis Valley, and with more than 20 federal and provincial departments. Administration: Greening Justice's Physical Operations The physical operations of the Department of Justice comprise offices across Canada that provide legal services, develop and implement policy and carry out administrative functions. Justice is one of 20 federal departments that together occupy only 14% of government space. Justice has made significant progress over the past three years in greening its physical operations. A major green success story is Justice's collaboration with Public Works and Government Services Canada in refurbishing its two new headquarters buildings. Over 90% of removed material was reused or recycled, energy efficiency was improved and environmentally friendly materials were used. Both buildings now require the use of environmentally friendly cleaning materials. Justice's Montreal Office has collaborated with other federal departments in their building complex in an extensive greening program led by Public Works. This includes a wide-ranging recycling program with two clothing collections per year, pooling of furniture and equipment for re-use, movement to higher-efficiency lighting, and more efficient vehicle use. The Office has also set up two photocopy centres, which have decreased copying substantially, re-using existing materials for this construction. Employees are encouraged to re-use and recycle office furniture and supplies. The Department's two main headquarters buildings have recycled an average of 85% of paper waste, exceeding the 1997 target. They have also recycled an average of 73% of total solid waste, coming close to the target. Green procurement is being applied to the four highest volume procurement items at Justice Headquarters. The Department has also increased greatly its use of information technology, although this has not been sufficient to decrease overall paper consumption. Developing a New Sustainable Development Strategy In developing this new Strategy, Justice has benefited from experience with its 1997 Strategy and from interdepartmental work on common sustainable development themes. In addition, changes in Justice's operating environment have been taken into consideration. In accordance with the expectations of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Justice has focused on assessing its first strategy, strengthening its planning, and accelerating the development of its management systems. Justice's performance over the past three years is outlined in chapters 3-5 and detailed in Appendix B. Three areas for improvement have been identified and addressed. First, Justice has followed the Commissioner's recommendation that departments take a more focused approach, targeting areas where they can make the most difference. Second, this Strategy contains clearer, more measurable targets, addressing another general problem identified by the Commissioner. Finally, this Strategy has improved upon the 1997 Strategy by becoming fully national in scope. This Strategy also reflects continual improvement to Justice management systems that occurred during the 1997 Strategy, consistent with the management model supported by the Commissioner. Sustainable Development Objectives for 2001-2003 Justice has established the following sustainable development objectives and goals: Objective 1: Support sustainable development across government through the delivery of high-quality legal services and the development of legal infrastructure. Goals: Deliver excellent legal support for major sustainable development initiatives Develop new and enhanced legal instruments Continue to develop capacity to deliver high quality legal services Enhance legal training for clients Promote dispute resolution and more efficient litigation Objective 2: Explore the implications of social and cultural factors for sustainable development in the context of the Justice policy mandate. Goals: Promote sustainable development principles through the sustainable communities initiatives Pursue the Aboriginal Justice Strategy in accordance with the principles of sustainable development Pursue crime prevention activity that furthers sustainable development principles Contribute to interdepartmental research on the links between social cohesion and sustainable development Objective 3: Reduce the direct environmental impact of Justice's physical operations. Goals: Stabilize the level of paper consumption Decrease solid waste Increase green procurement Increase environmental awareness

 

		Last Updated: 2005-10-20		Important Notices