That Bill C-38, in Clause 52, be amended by adding after  line 8 on page 31 the following:               

       

“Whereas the Government of Canada seeks to achieve sustainable development by conserving and enhancing environmental quality and by encouraging and promoting economic development that conserves and enhances environmental quality;        

Whereas environmental assessment provides an effective means of integrating environmental factors into planning and decision-making processes in a manner that promotes sustainable development;         

Whereas the Government of Canada is committed to exercising leadership, within Canada and internationally, in anticipating and preventing the degradation of environmental quality and, at the same time, in ensuring that economic development is compatible with the high value Canadians place on environmental quality;       

Whereas the Government of Canada seeks to avoid duplication or unnecessary delays;       

And whereas the Government of Canada is committed to facilitating public participation in the environmental assessment of projects to be carried out by or with the approval or assistance of the Government of Canada and to providing access to the information on which those environmental assessments are based;”