Minutes, Mackenzie River Basin Board Meeting No. 51
November 17 and 18, 2015
Alpine Bakery Meeting Room
Whitehorse Yukon
Members:
Mike RenoufA/Chair/Alternate MemberEnvironment Canada
Cheryl BaranieckiMember (by Phone, Day 1)Environment Canada
Heather JirousekMemberYukon
Sharon PeterAboriginal MemberYukon
John FahlmannMember (by Phone)Saskatchewan
Joseph TsannieAboriginal MemberSaskatchewan
Lynn KriwokenMemberBritish Columbia
Vera NicholsonAboriginal MemberBritish Columbia
Brian YeeMemberAlberta
Cleo ReeceAboriginal MemberAlberta
Erin KellyMemberNorthwest Territories
Guests:
Leon AndrewAboriginal Steering Committee Northwest Territories
Jennifer Fresque-BaxterChair, TKSP SteeringCommitteeNorthwest Territories
Erin LightYukon EnvironmentYukon
Tyler Williams (Day 1)Yukon EnvironmentYukon
Jean Beckerton (Day 2)Yukon EnvironmentYukon
Secretariat:
Don PittmanExecutive DirectorMRBB
Regrets:
Ward ChickoskiMemberHealth Canada
51.1 Call to Order
The 51stMRBB Meeting convened at9:00 am PST.
Chair Cheryl Baraniecki was unable to travel to Whitehorse for the meeting. The Board appointed Mike Renouf as Acting Chair.
51.2Approval of Agenda
Erin Kelly advised the Board that she and Brian Yee will give a presentation as part of the Bilateral Water Management update.
Heather Jirousek advised that Erin Light and Jean Beckerton will give the Geochemical and Isotopic Tracer Approaches for Establishing Scientifically Sound Baseline Data for Shallow Groundwater and Surface Waters since John Miller is not available
Motion:Moved by Joseph Tsannie
Seconded by Vera Nicholson
THAT the agenda of Meeting No. 51 be approved as amended by Members of the Board.
CARRIED
51.3 Membership
Leon Andrew was introduced as the new Aboriginal Member for the Northwest Territories. His Membership will become official when a letter that confirms the appointment is received by the Board. Leon will receive an orientation package and a participation contract once he is formally appointed.
Erin Kelly has been appointed as the Northwest Territories Member and John Fahlman has been appointed as the Saskatchewan Member.
Joseph Tsannie was re-elected as Vice Chief, Athabasca Region of the Prince Albert Grand Council. He has therefore been reappointed to another three year term.
Board Members were advised that Cleo Reece’s current term is set to expire on March 31, 2016 and Sharon Peter’s term is set to expire on August 18, 2016
Cheryl Baraniecki advised the Board that Health Canada values their participation on the MRBB. However, since the department is not a signatory to the Master Agreement, Health Canada has asked to be considered as an Interested Observer to the MRBB. Health Canada will participate on areas that are related to human health. The MRBB values Health Canada input into these discussions.
Mike Renouf advised the Board that the status of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (formerly AANDC) has not yet been resolved.
Don Pittman advised the Board that the MRBB Recognition of Service Award will be produced upon request. Board Members may nominate past Members, alternates, or others who have provided exemplary service to the MRBB.
The nominating Board Member advises the Executive Director of the nomination, either by phone, by e-mail, or during an MRBB Meeting. The Executive Director then advises the Chair and the MRBB of the nomination, unless it occurs at an MRBB Meeting.The Executive Director then coordinates the production of the award and sends it to the address provided by the nominating Board Member.
51.4 Approval of Minutes, MRBB Meetings 49 and 50
The draft minutes ofMRBB Meeting #49were distributed to the Board for their review and comment prior to MRBB Meeting 51.
Don Pittman advised that the title of Item 49.7 was incorrect and would be revised.
Brian Yee suggested that the termMinutes of the Forty Nine Meeting be replaced with Minutes of Meeting No. 49 and a similar format be used for subsequent meeting minutes.
Motion:Moved by Brian Yee
Seconded by Vera Nicholson
THAT the minutes of MRBB Meeting #49 be approved as amended by Members of the Board.
CARRIED
The draft minutes ofMRBB Meeting #50 were distributed to the Board for their review and comment prior to MRBB Meeting 51.
Lynn Kriwoken asked that the first sentence of the fourth paragraph of Item 50.14 be removed and a reference to the bilateral monitoring committees be added at the end of the paragraph. Lynn also expressed concern that the wording of the final paragraph was vague. In the future, it would be helpful to have specific notes on items such as this.
Erin Kelly suggested that a reference to Alberta checking with AEMERA needs to be included in the 50.14 discussion and specified as an action item. Erin also suggested that the minutes should note that Environment Canada and the Northwest Territories would continue discussions to discuss the outstanding items in the Technical Committee Terms of Reference and that the wording of Action Item 50.14-1 was not accurate. Erin also reiterated that the rest of the Terms of Reference, as discussed by the Board, had received general approval.
Erin also had concerns with the way the discussion in 50-12 was presented. Erin agreed to provide wording based on her recollection.
Don provided a revised version of the Minutes to Board Members. After some further discussion, the Board moved to approve the Minutes from Meeting 50.
Motion:Moved by Lynn Kriwoken
Seconded by Heather Jirousek
THAT the minutes of MRBB Meeting #50 be approved as amended by Members of the Board.
CARRIED
Board Members also requested that the meeting notes from the June 26 teleconference be distributed. The teleconference was not considered to be an official Board Meeting since quorum was not achieved.
Board Members also requested that reviewers who provided comments be noted within the minutes as a footnote.
Action Items arising from the discussion
Action 51.4-1 Don Pittman to remove “Minutes of the ….” from the MRBB Minutes title.
Action 51.4-2 Don Pittman to distribute notes from June MRBB call to Board.
Action 51.4-3 Don Pittman to include list of reviewers in Minutes footnotes.
50.6 Action Items not addressed elsewhere on the Agenda
The Board reviewed the status of action items arising from Meeting #50.
Action 50.7-3: Brian Yee to make a presentation on behalf of the Board at the 15th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons, in Edmonton on May 27, 2015. If Brian has other commitments, Erin Kelly will make the presentation. – Complete. Erin Kelly delivered the presentation at the evening event at the University of Alberta.
Action 50.8-4: Brian Yee to check whether the Alberta agency report can be posted publicly to the MRBB website. – Complete. Alberta’s report can be posted.
Action 50.17-5: Board to meet by teleconference on June 19. – Board met on June 26. Quorum was not achieved.
Action 50.18-1: Secretariat to update the MRBB Work Plan, based on the 2010-2013 template by June 30, 2015 – Complete.
Action 50.20-1: Heather Jirousek to provide the research paper /link by Bernard Meyer on tracers between groundwater and surface water in the Yukon to the MRBB. – Complete. Summary Document provided. Topic included on Agenda, MRBB Meeting 51.
Action 50.20-2: Mike Renouf to share maps showing location and distribution of Zebra mussels in the Prairies.– Complete. Documents available on Members Only page of MRBB Website.
Mike Renouf advised that zebra mussels continue to spread in the Red River. They continue to grow well in Lake Winnipeg and have been found in upstream locations, confirming that overland transport has occurred. The provinces are taking this issue seriously.
Board Members requested that a discussion of zebra mussels and attempts to prevent their spread be included in the next meeting agenda.
Action Items arising from the discussion
Action 51.5-1 Don Pittman to include Jurisdiction efforts to prevent the spread of Zebra Mussels on the next MRBB face to face meeting agenda.
51.6 Technical Committee Terms of Reference
Brian Yee advised that he had spoken to representatives of the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA). AEMERA is interested in participating on the MRBB Technical Committee. Fred Wrona is the lead contact.
Board Members discussed Section 6:Budget and Resourcing in the Technical Committee Terms of Reference. Specifically the discussion referred to the first bullet of Section 6, which will be referred to in the Minutes of MRBB Meeting 51 as “the statement”.
The statementfrom the Technical Committee Terms of Reference reads:
Parties to the bilateral agreements, and where appropriate the federal government, will fund the monitoring required by these agreements and for the SOAER reporting;
Lynn Kriwoken agreed with the intent of the statement, but questioned whether the Technical Committee Terms of Referencewas the right place for the statement, since the Technical Committee will not make monitoring decisions.
Heather Jirousek suggested that the intent of the statement is captured in the appendices of the bilateral water management agreements.
Cheryl Baraniecki suggested that jurisdictions set their own monitoring work and the Technical Committee will not be responsible for setting work for the jurisdictions. The issue in question is monitoring commitments. The jurisdictions are setting up bilateral water management agreements and while the federal government is not a signatory, it does water quantity and water quality work that will feed into the agreements. The MRBB needs to find the right mechanism to capture the intent of the statement and link to the bilateral management committees. In the meantime, the MRBB can deal with the Terms of Reference while not ignoring the broader perspective.
Sharon Peter asked whether the MRBB has a role in monitoring. Cheryl Baraniecki responded that the Board is interested in monitoring activities and other existing work by the agencies. The Board’s interest relates to how this work relates to the Board’s work and how the Board sets priorities. This information comes back to help inform the MRBB state of the aquatic ecosystem reporting.
The Technical Committee is viewed as a bridge between the MRBB and the bilateral management committees. However, there is not currently any overarching piece that captures this linkage.
Heather Jirousek advised that two monitoring stations in Yukon’s portion of the Liard watershed were reactivated through an agreement with the federal government. Heather reiterated that the statement was covered in the bilateral appendices and asked whether the intent of the statement in the terms of reference was to make a formal linkage with the federal government.
Lynn Kriwoken advised that Environment Canada’s role in the bilateral agreements had been discussed. The Technical Committee Terms of Reference are an attempt to clarify Environment Canada’s role. Lynn referred to the Technical Committee documentation discussed at Meeting 50.
Mike Renouf advised that while all parties are committed under the Master Agreement, the agreement is silent on monitoring. However, the agreement implies that the MRBB would have access to monitoring information. The Technical Committee may look at the adequacy of monitoring on a basin-wide scale, and comment on the validity of the monitoring and identify gaps. However, the Technical Committee does not have the authority to direct the agencies to address these gaps. What it can do is provide arguments to the monitoring agencies and thereby influence conversations that happen at the agency level. The Technical Committee would advise the MRBB; the MRBB in turn advises the monitoring agencies.
Vera Nicholson asked how the Technical Committee would work when presented with conflicting information, or how it would work in situations where comparisons are difficult because the information from different sources is not compatible. Mike Renouf responded that the Technical Committee can make recommendations but does not have the authority to direct work. The MRBB has access to available data and can comment on this information helps the Board achieve its mandate. In this way, the MRBB can influence jurisdictions and agencies.
Vera Nicholson advised that the MRBB has had a lot of conversations about work over the years. The Board needs to talk together and hope that the jurisdictions and agencies move in one direction.
Cheryl Baraniecki suggested that the first paragraph of the terms of reference lays the responsibilities of the Technical Committee very clearly. However, it does not speak to the broader perspective of the board’s mandate. This may be a gap.
Cheryl suggested that the statement may need to be seen as advice that comes back to the Board. The Board will need to consider the best place where this advice can be presented. Perhaps it can be presented during the strategic review, or in another mechanism.
Cheryl Baraniecki then asked whether there was any way to move forward for the Board to enable the Technical Committee while still considering the broader issues. Lynn Kriwoken advised that the Board had approved the terms of reference in principle at MRBB Meeting 50 except for the statement. The broader governance discussion is evolving. The Board is not looking to restart the terms of reference.
Erin Kelly suggested that the statement is not the issue that is hanging up the approval of the terms of reference. Mike Renouf responded that Environment Canada felt that the statement was not appropriate to include in the terms of reference of an MRBB committee.
Erin Kelly suggested that the statement could be removed from the Technical Committee Terms of Reference if there was another place where the statement could be presented. The Northwest Territories can support the terms of reference as long as there is another mechanism in place where the statement could be dealt with separately.
Mike Renouf advised that the statement was an outstanding issue for Environment Canada and the Northwest Territories to deal with and report back to the Board. This will also provide Board Members with an opportunity to consult internally about the discussion. Erin Kelly added that in the meantime, the Technical committee work does not need to be held up.
Lynn Kriwoken asked how the Board intends to resolve the statement. Erin Kelly suggested that there needs to be a commitment to monitoring in the Mackenzie River Basin. Wording could be drafted that can be brought back to the Board. Cheryl Baraniecki reiterated that the wording needs to be put in another place. Board Members need to think about the product that will capture the thinking on monitoring and this will need to be brought back to the Board.
Erin Kelly suggested that until new wording is developed, the statement should not be removed from the terms of reference. Mike Renouf suggested that the Board delay the conversation until the issue is resolved.
Cheryl Baraniecki suggested that the Board consider operationalizing the Technical Committee while doing the work on the wording. Other than this particular issue, the Terms of Reference is ready.
The MRBB outlined the following steps:
1. Environment Canada and the Northwest Territories will continue their conversation around monitoring commitments.
2. Environment Canada and the Northwest Territories will come back to the Board with a suggested course of action to deal with the monitoring commitment issue.
3. The MRBB will consider the Technical Committee Terms of Reference without the statement.
4. The MRBB will form the Technical Committee when it wishes the Technical Committee to begin work.
Mike Renouf suggested that the report back to the Board could include an information piece about some work that the Technical Committee could be involved with.
Action Items arising from the discussion
Action 51-6-1: Environment Canada and Government of the Northwest Territories to continue conversation around monitoring commitments. Parties will look for another mechanism to capture intent of discussion. The clause will remain in the draft Technical Committee Terms of Reference until the Parties report back to the Board.
Action 51-6-2: Environment Canada and Government of the Northwest Territories to report back to Board when monitoring commitments issue has been resolved. Clause will then be removed from Technical Committee Terms of Reference. The Terms of Reference will then be referred to the MRBB for formal approval.
Action 51.6-3 MRBB to review Technical Committee Terms of Reference without the monitoring commitment clause.
Action 51.6-4 The MRBB to form the Technical Committee when it wishes to begin Technical Committee work.
Erin Kelly then discussed the Mackenzie Datastream Project. One issue that keeps coming up in the communities is the lag time between when monitoring work is done and when that work is reported because there wasn’t a data management system that was available.
The Duncan Foundation has developed the Mackenzie Datastream Project. This is an open sourced data management system that includes a GIS platform. The system allows the user to graph for multiple parameters. The user can also use maps to see what information is available in a given area. This information can be used in reports.