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Minutes of New Brunswick Coastal Joint Action Group (NBC JAG) January 26, 2007, 9:30am Environment Canada Boardroom, Environmental Science Centre, Moncton
Attendees: Laura Barrett, Eastern Charlotte Waterways Inc. Roland Cormier, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Gulf Region Francois Emond, Canadian Food Inspection Agency Susan Farquharson, SWNB Marine Resources Planning Initiative Ernest Ferguson, Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans, Gulf Region Jocelyne Gauvin, Le Groupe de développement durable du Pays de Cocagne Kim Hughes, NB Dept. of Environment Marianne Janowicz, National Programme of Action – Atlantic Team Jeremy Matheson, Eastern Charlotte Waterways Inc. Monique Anne Morin, NB Dept. of Fisheries Kathryn Parlee, Environment Canada (alternate representing: Larry Hildebrand, Environment Canada) Marc-André Plourde, Les ami(e)s de la Kouchibouguacis Nina van der Pluijm, NB Dept. of Health Steve Wilson, Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans, Maritimes Region
Regrets: Kathy Brewer, NB Dept. of Agriculture and Aquaculture Harry Collins, Miramichi River Environmental Action Committee
Meeting Actions: 1. Action for Secretariat: Gather definitions of “sustainable” from M. Janowicz and P. Jordan. 2. Action: J. Gauvin and M. Plourde to find another ENGO member from the Gulf Region to sit on the NBC JAG committee, as a replacement for H. Collins. 3. Action for Secretariat: Provide minutes to K. Hughes for translation and determine if other government agencies are able to provide translation services. 4. Action for Secretariat: Gather coastal ENGOs for a one-day meeting. 5. Action for Secretariat: Collect information on nutrient monitoring and distribute to the NBC JAG members. (This work may occur as a mapping project in the new fiscal year.) 6. Action for Secretariat: Contact St. Croix Estuary Project to obtain a copy of the final report for a project linking freshwater and saltwater classifications. 7. Action for Secretariat: Contact P. Jordan to obtain information regarding nutrient testing around aquaculture hatcheries completed by DENV.
S. Farquharson (Co-Chair) brought the meeting to order. Roundtable introductions were conducted. During the introduction S. Farquharson informed the members she had spoken with Deputy Minister Byron James of the provincial Departments of Agriculture and Aquaculture (DAA) and Fisheries (DOF) and he asked her to take a pragmatic approach for the present time and if her time/energy allowed continue.
S. Farquharson went over the action items from the last meeting. · The members agreed to continue working on the action items listed below: 1. Action for Secretariat: Collect information on nutrient monitoring and distribute to the NBC JAG members. (This work may occur as a mapping project in the new fiscal year.) 2. Action for Secretariat: Contact the St. Croix Estuary Project to confirm a project was done linking freshwater and saltwater classifications. If the project was done obtain a copy of the final report. 3. Action: P. Jordan will see if it is possible to provide information regarding nutrient testing around aquaculture hatcheries completed by DENV to the NBC JAG. · M. Janowicz stated the St. Croix Estuary Project had completed a project linking freshwater and saltwater classifications and a final report had been produced. · K. Hughes stated information regarding nutrient testing around aquaculture hatcheries completed by DENV was available to the public.
S. Farquharson led the group in a discussion regarding the French name for NBC JAG and the definition of sustainability that would be added to the Terms of Reference. · There was a brief discussion regarding the French name and acronym. At the end of the discussion the French name was stated as: Groupe d'action collectif du littoral du Nouveau-Brunswick (GRACOLI du Nouveau-Brunswick). · S. Farquharson read to the members the definition of sustainability used by the Nova Scotia Sustainable Communities Initiative (NS SCI); Sustainability is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". There was a brief discussion regarding this definition. The members agreed to look into other definitions. M. Janowicz stated she could provide the definition of sustainable used by the Gulf of Maine Council. K. Hughes stated Paul Jordan had a list of definitions for sustainable.
Action for Secretariat: Gather definitions of “sustainable” from M. Janowicz and P. Jordan.
S. Farquharson moved the discussion onto the next agenda item, the question of whether it is necessary for the National Programme of Action – Atlantic Team (NPA-AT) to be a full member of the NBC JAG, as discussed in the last meeting or whether they should be a group that NBC JAG communicates with when needed. · To aid in the decision the NPA-AT co-chair M. Janowicz gave a presentation to the members about the group. (Please find a copy of this presentation attached.) During the presentation it was stated that the NPA-AT has set these action priorities for 2007+: reduce pollution from vessels in the nearshore, reduce inputs of nutrients associated with agricultural activities into the coastal/marine environment, reduce pollution to the coastal/marine area from onsite sewage, complete an assessment of the impact of nutrients from seafood processing plant effluents on the coastal/marine environment, get a microbial source tracking technique up and running, and improve the dredge materials management framework in Atlantic Canada. · At the conclusion of the presentation M. Janowicz stated that she felt the NPA-AT should not be a regular member of the NBC JAG but the two groups should stay in close communication to make sure there is no overlap. · K. Hughes stated the NPA is more bureaucratic than the NBC JAG as the NPA is a federal program run by Environment Canada (EC). · S. Farquharson stated the NBC JAG is trying to figure out how we could help the NPA-AT and vice-versa. · Response: M. Janowicz stated the federal NPA gives a sum of money to each Team to do their work. There are funds that could go down to other organizations if they could help with the NPA priorities. M. Janowicz stated the NPA might be able to help the NBC JAG lobby the government agencies, when necessary. · Response: S. Farquharson stated the NPA could be a good tool for the NBC JAG. S. Farquharson also stated she felt the NBC JAG could be “one-stop shopping” for the government agencies dealing with coastal issues and then the NBC JAG would communicate information out to the other groups (NPA-AT, Southern Gulf of Saint Lawrence Coalition, Northumberland Strait Working Group, etc).
Following the agenda, S. Farquharson led the group through a discussion of the Terms of Reference (ToR). · It was agreed that the NPA-AT would be removed from the membership list. · S. Farquharson informed the members Harry Collins had decided due to time constraints he would have to step down from the NBC JAG committee. The members decided recruitment for the position of the third ENGO from the Gulf coast of New Brunswick should begin. This task was given to the two ENGO members from the Gulf region in attendance. · J. Gauvin asked “annual” be removed from the Chair rotation and asked if the Chair has to be an ENGO. J. Gauvin stated she, as an ENGO representative did not feel comfortable at this stage being a Chair or even considered for Chair. · Response: S. Farquharson and K. Hughes both stated for conflict of interest reasons an ENGO needs to be Chair. K. Hughes also stated if the Chair is not an ENGO he would not attend the NBC JAG meetings because it would be like any other government meeting. NBC JAG is different because the initiative is ENGO lead. · Response: J. Gauvin asked if more ENGOs could be invited to sit on the NBC JAG committee so she and the other ENGO representative in attendance do not feel pressured to be the next Chair. · Response: S. Farquharson answered yes; at this stage it might be important to have more ENGOs at the table. · Moving to the language section, F. Emond stated he would continue to translate the minutes as needed, however he asked if such long, extensive minutes are needed. · Response: There was a discussion and the members decided we would stay with the longer minutes but also provide a short summary of action items on the first page. · Response: K. Hughes stated he could provide some translation through his department and he is sure that other government agencies could also.
Action: J. Gauvin and M. Plourde to find another ENGO member from the Gulf Region to sit on the NBC JAG committee, as a replacement for H. Collins.
Action for Secretariat: Provide minutes to K. Hughes for translation and determine if other government agencies are able to provide translation services.
S. Farquharson asked if there were any items to be added to the agenda. · Response: J. Gauvin added, 1) What is the status of the Bay by Bay program for aquaculture by DFO?, 2) Will the NBC JAG look at addressing the report “Impacts of Sea-Level Rise and Climate Change on the Coastal Zone of Southeastern NB”?, and 3) Will the NBC JAG look at addressing onsite septic for cottages?
As set out in the agenda R. Cormier gave a presentation about Ecological Risk Analysis (ERA). (Please find a copy of this presentation attached.) · R. Cormier highlighted ERA is not his idea but an international idea. R. Cormier stressed the three sections of the ERA are, risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication and two different groups of people need to do the risk assessment and risk management sections or nothing will ever get done. During the presentation R. Cormier passed around a handout depicting the ERA decision making process. Please find one attached. · After the presentation N. van der Pluijm stated, from an ERA point of view, she feels disappointed the NBC JAG has not considered the municipal wastewater systems more of a risk than the single home septic systems because there is a larger risk of harming more water with the municipal systems. · Response: M. Janowicz stated the NPA-AT discussed this and decided onsite septic is more important because the municipalities have lots of checks and balances, funding, etc compared to the onsite septic. · Response: N. van der Pluijm stated the NBC JAG could not deal with onsite septic because there are no policies in place. · Response: R. Cormier stated if we were to use the ERA approach for this question there would not be so much mixing of the risk assessment and risk management sections. R. Cormier stated the ERA helps to make decisions and then send the resources where they should be going. · Response: S. Wilson stated the risk is not necessarily how much sewage is going out into the water but where it is going. · Response: N. van der Pluijm stated she hoped the NBC JAG could put our efforts to the places where there is an impact. · Response: E. Ferguson stated if there is a limited amount of funds and resources then they should be concentrated at the worst spot in the watershed. · Response: N. van der Pluijm stated until the regulations change for wastewater it would be hard to change onsite systems. · Response: S. Farquharson stated this conversation is proof that NBC JAG is necessary to help move things forward. · Response: J. Gauvin asked if the NPA-AT is doing anything with onsite septic. · Response: M. Janowicz stated the NPA-AT onsite septic working group is fairly dormant because the Team needs a DoH co-chair. · Response: R. Cormier stated the only way the NBC JAG can change things is to change the regulations. · Response: S. Farquharson responded the issue of onsite septic and regulations is not a new one and we should continue to work on it even if it seems nothing can be accomplished.
S. Farquharson asked S. Wilson to give an update on the HADD credit discussions with Environment Canada (EC). · S. Wilson stated a meeting has not occurred with DFO Maritimes region and EC. However, there is currently a review in the DFO Maritimes region habitat section to see where HADD funds are going and there appears to be 7 different places, one of which is the Environmental Damages Fund (EDF) of EC. S. Wilson stated during this review the habitat people wondered where the NBC JAG is planning on spending the HADD funds. · Response: M. Janowicz stated the NPA-AT is under the impression the EDF account is large but the funds are not dispensed frequently. M. Janowicz asked if anyone was aware of funds being taken out of the EDF. · Response: S. Farquharson and J. Gauvin both stated they were aware of groups receiving EDF but that EDF has a lot of criteria. · Response: S. Wilson stated if EDF is not the place to send the HADD funds to let him know. · Response: S. Farquharson stated she is under the impression that DFO sometimes has a difficult time spending all the HADD funds. · Response: S. Wilson agreed. · Response: E. Ferguson stated there is a HADD bank set up in the DFO Gulf region. · Response: S. Wilson stated to move forward the NBC JAG is going to need to give him more information about what the HADD funds would be spent on. · Response: S. Farquharson suggested there needs to be a one-day session set up for the ENGOs now the NBC JAG has its business in order. S. Farquharson stated the session would help NBC JAG members decide how to move forward on issues such as the HADD and EDF discussion.
Action for Secretariat: Gather coastal ENGOs for a one-day meeting.
Following the agenda, S. Farquharson led the group through a discussion of the Logic Model designed by Larry Hildebrand. · The members agreed with the “Motivating Conditions” section of the model. · N. van der Pluijm asked if the “lack of compliance with environmental regulations” statement should be changed under the “Root Causes” section. · Response: There is a discussion amongst the members. It is decided it is not a lack of compliance or even enforcement but a “lack of regulatory deterrents”, a “lack of resources” and a “lack of education/awareness”. This information is added to the model. · E. Ferguson and K. Hughes both stated there is a need for community groups in NB and their important work needs to be recognized more by all levels of government. The statement, “lack of recognition for community based work”, is added to the model. · The members agreed the sections “Current Efforts” and “Outputs” could be built upon at a later date. · S. Farquharson stated the “Outcome” sections would have to be worked on after the ENGO meeting. · K. Parlee mentioned she is new to the NBC JAG and she asked what is the niche of the group. · Response: S. Wilson stated his vision of the NBC JAG is “one-stop-shopping”, a place where all the ENGOs will be represented and the government agencies will come to try and help rectify the coastal issues at hand. · Response: S. Farquharson gave a brief history of the NBC JAG, stating that initial invitation letters were sent to Ministers. S. Farquharson envisions the NBC JAG in the middle of the picture with information from government agencies, ENGOs, etc feeding in and out. · J. Gauvin asked if the New Brunswick Environmental Network (NBEN) should be on the NBC JAG, since all the ENGOs are members of the NBEN. · Response: S. Farquharson stated she did not think the NBEN needed to be a member but they, as well as, the Atlantic Coastal Zone Information Steering Committee (ACZISC) should be a communication tool.
The date for the next NBC JAG meeting was not set as there needs to be a meeting of all the coastal ENGOs before there can be another NBC JAG meeting.
Meeting was adjourned at 2:30pm. |