Question Period Note: Major Projects

How does Fisheries and Oceans Canada approach its role in assessing the environmental impact of development projects?

• Protecting fish and fish habitat is a top priority for this government, which is why we ensure that proposed projects are thoroughly assessed before they are built.
• Careful consideration of projects during impact assessment, including applying the strong legislative framework in the modernized Fisheries Act and other applicable legislation, ensures protection of fish and their habitats.
• We remain engaged in project reviews and will continue to work with proponents, other levels of government, Indigenous groups, and stakeholders, as appropriate.

General DFO Role and Authorities:
• The Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program administers and ensures compliance with the fish and fish habitat protection provisions of the Fisheries Act and certain relevant provisions under the Species at Risk Act for development projects taking place in and around fish habitat.
• The Minister may issue authorizations under paragraphs 34.4(2)(b) and/or 35(2)(b) of the Fisheries Act following a site-specific review for works, undertakings, or activities that pose, respectively, a risk of death of fish by means other than fishing or the harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction of fish habitat. The authorization, when appropriate, may contain conditions for offsetting, monitoring, and reporting.
• The Program is also responsible for meeting the duty to consult, and when appropriate, accommodate, in relation to potential impacts on Aboriginal and Treaty rights related to authorizations or permits that may be issued under the Fisheries Act or the Species at Risk Act.
• The Department also has specific legislative responsibilities in relation to federal environmental assessment regimes including, among others, the Impact Assessment Act, and regimes in the territories and under land claims agreements.
• As a federal authority for impact assessments, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) provides expert information or knowledge in relation to its mandate. Under regimes in the territories and under land claims agreements DFO may also be a decision maker for a project.

Mary River Project:
• Mary River Iron Ore Project is an approved iron ore mine operated by Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (the Proponent). The project has been subject to several environmental assessment processes as development plans at the site have evolved.
• A recent project expansion proposal was rejected by the Government in November 2022. The proponent has since applied for a permanent ability to ship at 6 million tonnes per annum (mpta), which they are calling the sustaining operations proposal.
• On February 9, 2023, the proponent also announced that it would be moving to develop the southern rail line and port at Steensby Inlet. This proposal received an environmental assessment approval in December 2012 but was never constructed. Additional regulatory approvals, including under the Fisheries Act, are expected to be required prior to construction.
• A joint workshop between the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission Scientific Committee Working Group on the Population Status of Narwhal and Beluga in the North Atlantic and the Canada Greenland Joint Commission on Conservation and Management of Narwhal and Beluga Scientific Working Group was held in December 2022. DFO was represented at the meeting by DFO science sector. The report produced at the conclusion of the workshop suggests that increased ship traffic, the majority of which is attributable to the Mary River project, is by far the most likely cause for the large, population displacement of narwhals that has been observed and that the model predicts there will be almost no narwhal left in Eclipse Sound in 2023.

If pressed
• Mary River Project (Baffinland): My department will continue to work with Baffinland, the Nunavut Impact Review Board, and other relevant partners to assess operations at the Mary River site as they evolve. This will include consideration of new science with respect to potential impacts to fish, marine mammals, and their habitats.