2021 Reports 3 to 7 of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to the Parliament of CanadaCanadians leverage environmental petitions to get answers from ministers

Ottawa, 25 November 2021—Today, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Jerry V. DeMarco, released the 2021 Environmental Petitions Annual Report to inform Parliament and Canadians about the number, nature, and status of petitions and ministers’ responses.

From 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada received 14 environmental petitions raising concerns in a number of areas, including biodiversity, climate change and toxic substances. The 4 federal organizations that received the most petitions requiring a response were Environment and Climate Change Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Health Canada.

This year’s report highlights recent actions taken by the government on issues raised in two previous petitions: one on aquaculture on the West coast and one on a proposed recreational trail in Alberta’s Jasper National Park.

Environmental petitions are a unique way for Canadian residents—acting as individuals or on behalf of an organization—to bring their concerns and questions about environmental issues to the attention of federal ministers and be guaranteed a response. The Commissioner administers the petitions process on behalf of the Auditor General of Canada.

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The 2021 Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Report 7—Environmental Petitions Annual Report is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada website.

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