The Auditor General and the Environment

When most politicos hear of the Auditor General, they think of the annual report given on the state of the government's finances. Yet, there's another perhaps less known role most Canadians may not know of when it comes to the AG. It seems the AG now accepts submissions from ordinary Canadians and environmental NGOs. The environmental petitions process is a formal way for Canadians to bring concerns about the environment and sustainable development to the attention of federal ministers, and obtain a timely response.

The environmental petitions process was created as a result of a 1995 amendment to the Auditor General Act. On behalf of the Auditor General of Canada, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development manages the petitions process and monitors responses by making sure that the questions and issues that Canadians raise are answered by federal ministers.

The Commissioner reports annually to Parliament, and each report contains a chapter on environmental petitions. The chapter reports on petitions activities from the previous year and often contains audits of selected petition responses on topics as diverse as genetically engineered fish, military dumpsites off Canada’s Atlantic coast, insurance for nuclear operators, and guidelines for listing species at risk.

In my view, where this seems to be of most application is in accordance with new opportunites for environmental ENGOs (environmental NGOs). If native bands or pressure groups want to call the government accountable on environmental initiatives, a petition to the Auditor General to investigate could be very embarrasing.

With Kyoto a constant sore point for the current government and criticism of their Clean Air Act mounting, could the use of this process increase as well? Time will tell. It will be incumbent on industry, associations and ENGOs to monitor the Auditor General's Office more carefully. They will need to be vigilant with any hired lobbyists to ensure they are covering all potential bases. Equally important, government relations plans will need to review where the AG fits into overall efforts.

For more information on the environmental petition process, visit the Commissioner of the Environment Process website.
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Mark Buzan is the owner of Action Strategies, a public affairs & marketing communications consultancy. You can subscribe now to his monthly public affairs newsletter by visiting www.action-strategies.ca and dropping down the newsletter menu.