Media Advisory—Tabling of the 2019 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Media Advisory—Tabling of the 2019 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development—Tuesday, 2 April 2019

Ottawa, 4 March 2019—The 2019 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Julie Gelfand, will be tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 2 April 2019.

Media lock-up:

Journalists accredited by the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery are invited to attend a media lock-up to be held Tuesday, 2 April 2019, from 7 am (eastern timeET). Please proceed to the Office of the Auditor General’s security checkpoint on the main floor of 240 Sparks Street, West Tower to provide your photo identification.

Thank you for bringing your Wi-Fi enabled laptop or tablet to the lock-up so that you can connect to our secure wireless network to access an embargoed copy of the 2019 Spring Reports and related material, as well as the Office of the Auditor General of Canada’sOAG’s website. We will unlock the wireless network once the reports are tabled in the House of Commons so that you can file your articles without delay. Please note that very few paper copies of the reports will be available for distribution.

Journalists may leave the media lock-up only once the reports are tabled in the House of Commons, shortly after 10:00 am.

News conference:

Journalists in Ottawa who are accredited by the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery may attend the news conference in person:
11:00 am to 12:00 pm (ET)
National Press Theater, 150 Wellington Street, Ottawa

All Canadian journalists can join the news conference via teleconference.
Phone numbers: 1-866-206-0153 / 613-954-9003
Access code: 8049954#

Interviews:

To book an interview, please call 1-888-761-5953 or email infomedia@oag-bvg.gc.ca.

The 2019 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development include the following:

Aquatic Invasive Species. This audit focused on whether Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency implemented adequate measures to prevent aquatic invasive species from becoming established in Canadian waters. We examined their activities to prevent introductions, to detect and respond to invasions, and to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.

Protecting Fish from Mining Effluent. We examined whether Environment and Climate Change Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada protected fish and their habitat from mining effluent at active mine sites, in accordance with the Fisheries Act and the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations.

Tax Subsidies for Fossil Fuels—Finance Canada. We examined whether the Department of Finance Canada provided advice based on analysis of all relevant and reliable information to support decision making on inefficient fossil fuel tax subsidies.

Non-Tax Subsidies for Fossil Fuels—Environment and Climate Change Canada. We examined whether Environment and Climate Change Canada provided advice based on analysis of all relevant and reliable information to support decision making on inefficient non-tax fossil fuel subsidies.

The 2019 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development will be available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada Website immediately following tabling.

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