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CCCA_V6No4_WhatToWatch-FIN_CCCA 11/26/12 4:30 PM Page 35 Feature Stephen Harper, more than 70 lawyers and professors argued the Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission — move represented a “dismantling” of Canada’s environmental laws will be responsible for EAs. and “a massive shift toward deregulation of Canada’s energy and New timelines are also in effect: after the proponent provides a natural resource sectors.” First Nations groups protested that they description of the project, the CEAA has 45 days to determine had not been consulted and warned that they would take every whether an assessment will be required, and 365 days to make its opportunity to challenge the provisions. On the other hand, final decision; 24 months if a review panel is involved. industry supported the move, describing the 2012 CEAA as a step Significantly, says Birchall, the timelines are suspended when a toward eliminating regulatory duplication and bringing clarity to proponent is gathering information to complete an EA: “What I the environmental review process. think this means is that the review agencies could be far more Under the new CEAA, automatic screenings and comprehen- exacting of getting as much information as possible because it’s sive studies are eliminated. Far fewer federal environmental assess- on the proponent’s clock to do the work properly.” ments (EAs) will be conducted, and those that are will concen- It remains to be seen whether the legislation yields the effi- trate on larger projects, says Birchall, whose practice is devoted ciencies the government hopes to get. In the meantime, Birchall exclusively to environmental and energy law. Public participation says, corporate counsel in any designated industry — forestry, has been narrowed, and fewer authorities — namely the mining, hydro-electrics — as well as lenders financing these kinds Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the National of projects, will want to be well-versed in the Act’s provisions. Pooled REGISTERED pension plans (PRPPs) the way for low-cost, large-scale pension plans designed to increase coverage and participation rates. Ottawa has urged the provinces to use the new law as a model for their own PRPP legislation. If and when they follow suit, it could result in more uniform legislation. With PRPPs, employers and employees can opt into a pooled plan run by third-party administrators. Ideally, the economies of scale will allow for lower management fees and, “theoretically, best-in-class investment choices and returns,” says Sweatman, while shifting fiduciary and administrative responsibilities from employers — many of whom never wanted to be in the pension Canada currently has a patchwork of pension regimes — nine business in the first place — to plan administrators. It will also provincial plus one federal, each with their own idiosyncratic rules. allow small businesses and the self-employed to participate. The system is complex, costly, and a barrier to employee mobility, Federal PRPP legislation will only come into effect once the says Scott Sweatman, a partner at Spectrum HR Law in Vancouver. Income Tax Act and PRPP regulations are amended. In the “I’ve got clients who operate in several provinces, and they’ve meantime, corporate counsel should stay abreast of legislative got a pension plan with four or five, sometimes eight or nine, developments on PRPPs and pension reforms, says Sweatman. appendices: in Saskatchewan, this applies; in Manitoba, it doesn’t, He recommends that in-house lawyers be prepared to brief their and so on. It’s irritating,” he says. boards on the federal act and any provincial legislation, and be There’s a movement to harmonize pension laws that might aware of the key provisions of these plans, as well as the pros and help. Federal legislation approving pooled registered pension cons of participating. “Start now,” he says: “because once one plans (PRRPs) received Royal Assent on June 28, 2012, paving province starts to do it, others will likely follow suit quickly.” HIVER 2012 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 35