WHEREAS current provincial licensing requirements for establishment of worker camps involve multiple authorities without effective inter-agency coordination thereby detracting from local governments ability to achieve maximum regional prosperity and social equity: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that as a condition to establishing a worker camp, the Province be requested to establish a single window approval process for all industries that allows for comment from any agency, regulator or local government that has interest in the location, operation, safety, health and socio-economic impacts associated with the camp; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Province establish an overarching authority to coordinate work camp development and monitor work camp operations.
Ministry of Community, Sport Cultural Development The issue of work camps is not necessarily a gap in the regulatory framework, but rather, a need for improved communication and coordination between local governments, proponents and regulatory agencies. The Ministry is actively pursuing improved engagement between local governments, the proponents and regulatory agencies to ensure a complete understanding of responsibilities and to ensure fair and appropriate responses. In response to concerns raised by local governments, in particular around the larger scale projects that necessitate an Environmental Assessment Certificate EAC and the resultant socio-economic impacts, the Ministry has taken a leading role in coordination with the Environmental Assessment Office EAO establish the Socio-Economic Effects Management Plan SEEMP framework as an EA condition. The new SEEMP framework supports the Ministrys mandate to support local governments and residents to build vibrant and healthy communities that are well governed, economically stable, socially and environmentally responsible. The intent of the SEEMP is to ensure a clear and defined role for an EA certificate holder in identifying, quantifying and mitigating or contributing to the mitigation of socio-economic effects on community-level services and infrastructure arising from construction of the certificate holders project. A SEEMP is a stand-alone project specific plan that ties in and builds on existing conditions of the EAC and is agreed to by the Ministry. A SEEMP is required to build upon the EAC application to provide more current and detailed descriptions of the anticipated socio-economic effects related to a project, how the certificate holder intends to carry out the necessary measures to mitigate those effects wholly or in part and to monitor and report upon the actual economic and social effects of the project once it is underway. This proposed model could be defined as one that guarantees a clear and collaborative process to jointly identifying and mitigating effects with proponents and impacted communities.