CONFERENCE DAY 2

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

8:30

Opening Remarks from the Conference Co-Chairs

8:45

How Cumulative Effects are Being Addressed in Regional Assessments –Ring of Fire, St. Lawrence River, Offshore Wind Development microphone-alt Cheryl Chetkiewicz, Director, Indigenous Communities and Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Society

• Overview of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s national Regional Assessment program

• Discussion of the role and benefits of regional assessments in assessing and addressing cumulative effects

• Key considerations and lessons around related to how cumulative effects are addressed in regional assessments in:

» Ring of Fire Area (Ontario)

» St. Lawrence River Area (Quebec)

» Offshore Wind Development (Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia)

• How has the process worked and what challenges have been encountered?

9:30

Surface Water Quality Management Frameworks in Action: Managing Cumulative Effects in the Upper Athabasca and North Saskatchewan Rivers in Alberta microphone-alt Sarah Depoe, Director, Cumulative Effects Management Planning, Lands Planning Branch, Lands Division, Alberta Environment and Protected Areas

• Assessing the singular regional plan for the Lower Athabasca Region in Alberta

• Progression of Alberta’s Land Use Framework

• The latest developments in Alberta’s cumulative effects management via regional plans and how well it has worked so far

• How regional planning, environmental monitoring and decision making currently interact

• Identifying the main gaps and associated risks (environmental and others)

• How are the key players coordinating and integrating strategies?

10:15 Networking Refreshment Break

10:30

Overcoming the Pain Points of Implementing an Environmental Monitoring Program for Northern Communities microphone-alt Mark Cliffe-Phillips, Executive Director, Mackenzie Valley Review Board

Heather Rasmussen, Senior Policy Advisor, Nunavut Impact Review Board

Insights and approaches on managing the environmental impact assessment process when considering development in an Arctic environment.

11:30

A Retrospective on the Fundamental Challenges to Project Approval, Lessons Learned, and What Lies Ahead in Cumulative Effects Assessment

PANEL: microphone-alt George Hegmann, Senior Principal, Stantec

Kevin Hanna, Associate Professor/Director, Centre for Environmental Assessment Research, University of British Columbia

This panel discussion will provide insight and perspectives on CEA, lessons learned and projections for the future.

• Decisions and practices in regulatory streamlining, Indigenous rights and regional assessments

• Discussion of the fundamental drivers in project assessments and projections for the future of large-scale project development in Canada

• How can cumulative effects management be more robust and inclusive?

12:30

Closing Remarks from the Conference Co-Chairs and Conference Concludes

1:30

Post Conference Workshop: Your Complete and Practical Guide to Environmental Monitoring for Planning and Decision Making in the Context of Cumulative Effects (Details on the next page)

Post Conference Workshop

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

1:30–5:00 pm

Your Complete and Practical Guide to Environmental Monitoring for Planning and Decision Making in the Context of Cumulative Effects

microphone-alt Carla Davidson, Principal, Endeavour Scientific Inc.

Dr. Ave Dersch, Archaeologist, Ethnobotanist, Traditional Land Use Study Facilitator, Moccasin Flower Inc.

Cumulative effects management requires a shift from reactive, project-specific decision-making to an integrated and planning-based approach to setting and achieving long-term objectives that are meaningful in terms of the full range of land-use values. This requires environmental monitoring that is risk-based, focused, and designed to give decision makers timely and specific information. When cumulative effects are significant, environmental monitoring and management require careful planning and establishing a monitoring framework that clearly meets end-user needs.

PART ONE:

Environmental Monitoring as Integrated Knowledge Translation

• What to monitor? Identifying key questions

• Indicator selection: understanding tradeoffs

• Governance

PART TWO:

Applying

Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous Culture into Environmental Monitoring

This session will delve into how Indigenous communities define parameters and participate in operational decision making in the resource industry in Alberta, the Arctic and other areas in Canada

• Examples of working with Indigenous Knowledge holders in collaborative ways through the impact assessment process

(Workshop is offered In-Person only)