Senator Yussuff: With pleasure, my friend.

Senator Gold: With pleasure, dear colleagues.

I apologize to the interpreters.

It also allows the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to require people to provide written reports their progress in implementing these plans.

[English]

Honourable senators, I also want to review a suite of amendments aimed at increasing transparency, accountability and public participation under the act. This was a key issue to many stakeholders and witnesses, particularly under Part 6 of the act, which provides for the assessment and management of new living organisms, often described as genetically modified organisms.

There was significant testimony and debate in this chamber regarding a particular regulatory decision regarding a genetically modified salmon, and this led to the adoption of amendments proposed by Senator Dennis Patterson that departed from the risk-based approach to the assessment of new living organisms by requiring that the ministers determine whether there is a demonstrable need for a new living organism. This subjective value judgment was a new, undefined concept that goes beyond the scope of the government’s mandate for assessing new living organisms. This represented a marked departure from the risk‑based approach under the act.

Senate amendments also required that the ministers ensure meaningful public participation in the assessment of new living organisms, without providing any indication of what that should entail. Our colleagues in the other place adjusted these amendments while maintaining the spirit of the original proposal. Their changes will serve to increase public participation in assessments of certain living organisms under Part 6, specifically vertebrate animals and other prescribed living organisms, by requiring that the ministers publish a notice of consultation and consult with interested persons during the assessment period.

Finally, the committee adopted amendments proposed by Senator Galvez and Senator Dennis Patterson regarding transparency, public participation, accountability and reporting. Amendments included those to broaden the scope of information that must be published in the environmental registry and to require that the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry table a report in Parliament regarding manufactured and imported goods.

[Translation]

The committee adopted amendments to these provisions to specify how the registry is to be kept and the scope of the documents published in the registry.

The committee in the other place also deleted the provision added by the Senate that would have required the Minister of Industry to table a report on manufactured and imported goods. After a more in-depth study in the other place, it was concluded that the content of the report was vague and not part of the mandate of the Minister of Industry.

In any case, I would like to remind you that the government is developing a broad labelling strategy that should be released sometime this year.

The committee also accepted Senator Miville-Dechêne’s amendments concerning the confidential commercial information regime. More specifically, it would eliminate the exception related to the requirement to provide reasons when submitting a request for confidentiality. The committee made other amendments in this area to require that the reasons submitted with the request for confidentiality meet the criteria of the Access to Information Act and to ensure that these requests are verified by the minister.

To highlight these amendments pertaining to openness and transparency, the committee in the other place added a commitment to that effect in the bill’s preamble.

The Hon. the Speaker: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

The Hon. the Speaker: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?