Peter Sherhols, Acting Vice-President, Policy Development, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency

In closing the workshop, Mr. Sherhols noted that sustainable development is clearly a priority of the Government of Canada, and SEAs are a crucial component of sustainable development. He observed that these are key messages that we all must relay to our departments and to our colleagues.

We also need to look at better integrating SEA into our management accountability frameworks. He believes that by making SEAs a part of performance agreements, they will have greater prominence.

He also noted that we should recognize that while we have a long way to go, we are still ahead of many other countries in terms of how we address sustainable development issues. And we are also clearly world leaders in applying SEAs to policy decision making.

He observed that we are continually improving and moving forward with the practice of SEA. In the future, it will be important to maintain this momentum and make SEAs a fully integrated part of the work of departments and agencies across the country. While the the Agency is responsible for the program, it is the implementers of SEA who are the leaders and who will make a difference.