Round Table

NRTEE convenes a meeting of experts to chart a path forward for its new Program on Water and Canada?s Natural Resource Sectors

On February 24th, 2009, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy hosted a workshop entitled ?Charting a Path: Water and Canada?s Natural Resource Sectors?. The NRTEE solicited advice from close to 50 stakeholders from across Canada representing the natural resource sectors, academia, Aboriginal, non-governmental organizations and governments. The aim was to inform the NRTEE on where it could provide the greatest value and to confirm the key current and emerging issues and opportunities in the interface between the natural resources sectors, climate change, and water use.

The workshop was chaired by Christopher Hilkene, NRTEE Member and Chair of the Program?s Expert Advisory Committee. NRTEE members Elizabeth Brubaker, Richard Prokopanko, Robert Slater, Robert Dub, and Robert Sopuck were also in attendance. Bill Borland, Chair of the Canadian Water Network and Vice President, Canadian Federal Programs, AMEC Earth Environmental, provided the opening address asking participants to consider where we [Canadians] want to be in terms of management and preserving our freshwater resources in the next 10-20 years. NRTEE Senior Policy Advisor Liza Campbell warned that ?there is no clarity on the extent to which sectors are reliant on a predictable supply of useable water?each sector will have a different vulnerability relationship.?

Based on the advice from participants it was confirmed that the NRTEE is well positioned to take a leadership role ? as a catalyst and convenor ? to work with stakeholders to determine a path towards sustainable water use by the Canadian natural resources sectors. A key message pointed towards the need to identify first what science, knowledge, data and information already exists and how that information can be disseminated through the NRTEE?s recommendations. Governance issues also appeared to be a common concern amongst workshop participants.

President and CEO David McLaughlin closed the event by affirming the NRTEE?s desire to continue to focus attention on the issue of water resource sustainability and the sustainability of our natural resource sectors.

Next steps for the NRTEE will involve:

• Engagement with the NRTEE Members and sub-committee
• Refine program process and research focus
• Establish timelines and detailed research and engagement plan
• Set up water round tables and meetings with sectors
• Initiate research
• Develop a communications plan

For additional information or if you wish to participate at upcoming meetings and workshops, contact , NRTEE lead, Water Program.

Related information:

View discussion paper
View list of participants
Water and Canada's Natural Resource Sector website

"The issues relating to water today, very much parallel the issues relating to climate change. Not because most of the predicted consequences of climate change seem to directly affect water on this planet in one way or another, but also because of the way in which they are treated. Denial." - Bill Borland, Chair of the Canadian Water Network and Vice President, Canadian Federal Programs, AMEC Earth Environmental.

Participants

Allen, Paul
Assistant Director, Freshwater, Horizontal, Policy and Science Coordination
Natural Resources Canada

Balpataky, Katherine
Research Associate
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTE)

Boisclair, David
Research Director
Institute for Research on Public Policy

Borland, Bill
Vice President, Canadian Federal Programs AMEC Earth Environmental

Brooks, David
Senior Advisor, Fresh Water
Friends of the Earth Canada

Brubaker, Elizabeth
NRTEE Member; (Executive Director, Environment Probe)

Campbell, Liza
Senior Policy Advisor
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE)

Cantin, Bernard
Director
Policy Research Initiative

Carignan, Serge
Executive Director, I.C.I. Environment
Universit du Qubec Montral

Chamberland, Hubert
Le president du COVABAR
Comit de concertation et de valoristion du bassin de la rivire Richelieu

de Lo, Rob
Professor and University Research Chair in Water Policy and Governance, Department of Environment and Resource Studies
University of Waterloo

Drolet, Ren
Director of Policy & Research
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE)

Dub, Robert
NRTEE Member; (Prsident, ATOUT PERSONNEL)
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE)

Edwards, Denise
Administrative Assistant
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE)

Fortin, Pierre
President
Canadian Hydropower Association

Gagnon, Luc
Senior Advisor, Climate Change, Environment and Sustainable Development Unit
Hydro-Qubec

Gardiner, Elizabeth
Vice President, Technical Affairs
The Mining Association of Canada

Hilkene, Christopher
NRTEE Member; (Clean Water Foundation)
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE)

Kelly, Mike
Vice President, Alberta Water Council; Former Director, Water Resources, TransAlta

Kreutzweiser, David
Research Scientist, Aquatic Ecology and Ecotoxicology, Canadian Forest Service
Natural Resources Canada

Kulshreshtha, Suren
Professor, Department of Bioresource Policy, Business and Economics (PBE)
University of Saskatchewan

Lambert, Gordon
Vice President, Sustainable Development
Suncor Energy Inc.

Marshall, David
Founder and CEO
Fraser Basin Council

Martel, Jean-Pierre
President & CEO
Forest Products Association of Canada

McCuaig, James D.
Program Advisor
Munk Centre for International Studies
University of Toronto

McLaughlin, David
President and CEO
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE)

Merchant, Jamshed
Assistant Deputy Minister
Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration and Environment
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Mitchell, Clyde
Senior Engineer/Project Manager
Triton Environmental Consultants Ltd.

Mitchell, Jon
Lead, Environmental Strategies
EnCana Corporation

Morris, Tim
Programme Officer, Fresh Water Resources Protection
Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation

Munroe, Geoff
Associate ADM and Chief Scientist
Assistant Deputy Minister?s Office
Natural Resources Canada

Noble, David
Consultant
2degreesC

Nowlan, Linda
Consultant

Painchaud, Jean
Service de la gestion intgre de l?eau
Direction des politiques de l?eau
Ministre du Dveloppement durable, de l?Environnement et des Parcs (MDDEP)

Paradiso, Christina
Policy Advisor
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE)

Pentland, Ralph
Canadian Water Issues Council

Phare, Merrell-Ann
Executive Director and Legal Counsel
Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER)

Phillips, Richard
Chairman
Alberta Irrigation Projects Association

Prokopanko, Richard
NRTEE Member; (Director, Corporate Affairs for B.C. Rio Tinto Alcan Inc.)
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE)

Renzetti, Steven
Professor, Department of Economics
Brock University

Sandford, Bob
Chair, Canadian Partnership Initiative United Nations, Water for Life Decade;
Director
Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative

Saunders, J. Owen
Executive Director, Canadian Institute of Resources Law
University of Calgary

Servos, Mark
Scientific Director, Canadian Water Network, Canada; Research Chair, Water Quality Protection, Department of Biology
University of Waterloo

Slater, Robert
NRTEE Member; (Adjunct Professor, Environmental Policy, Carleton University)
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE)

Sopuck, Robert
NRTEE Member; (Vice-President of Policy, Delta Waterfowl Foundation)
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE)

Vescovi, Luc
Chercheur et coordonnateur de programme
Ouranos Inc.

Watt, Shannon
Policy Research Analyst
Federation of Canadian Municipalities

Webster, Alain
Vice-rectorat l?administration et au dveloppement durable
Universit de Sherbrooke

Westmacott, Chad
Senior Policy Analyst
Environment Policy Division
Natural Resources Canada

Yap, Robert
Director, Water Resources
Ontario Power Generation