The Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry has the honour to present its

FIRST REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill S-222, An Act to amend the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act (use of wood), has, in obedience to the order of reference of December 9, 2021, examined the said bill and now reports the same with the following amendment:

1.Clause 1, page 1: Replace line 10 of the English version with the following:

“ter shall consider any potential reduction in greenhouse”;

and with certain observations, which are appended to this report.

Respectfully submitted,

Observations to the first report of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry (Bill S-222)

In light of safety concerns raised by Keven Lefebvre, Fire Chief of Leduc County, Alberta, and co-chair of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs Building Codes Committee, the committee would like to observe that any future public works projects that involve construction of buildings using wood should include excellent sprinkler systems, and that other safety precautions should be taken in the design of such buildings to allow for ease of evacuation as well as ease of access by fire crews. The committee would further like to note that upgrades to the National Building Code should be particularly mindful of the flammability and possible toxicity of any and all new building materials and treatments, including but not limited to engineered wood products.