Record of Decision

Attendance

Co-Chairs:

Larry Murray
Gerard Protti

Members:  

Pierre Alvarez
Dane Baily
John Bennett
Jan Carr
Michael Cleland
Strater Crowfoot
MurrayElston
Richard Fadden
Michael Horgan
Robert Hornung
Hans Konow
Suzanne Leblanc
Ken Ogilvie
André Plourde
Marlo Raynolds
Vicky Sharpe
Allison Scott

Observers:

Christine Hogan
Sue Kirby
France Pégeot

Secretariat:

Nancy Roberts
Stacey Schorr
Okenge Yuma Morisho

Presenters:

John Lawson
Martin Lee-Gosselin
Phil Kurys
Lee Sims

Absent:

Joe Gargiso
Dave MacInnis
Richard Nerysoo
Peter Watson

Agenda

It was agreed that some time should be taken on the agenda to discuss the future of the ESST.

Record of Decisions

 The Record of Decisions for the March 13 and 14, 2006 ESST meeting was approved.

Membership

The Co-chairs welcomed Michael Horgan, Deputy Minister of Environment Canada, as a new member of the Table.  The Co-chairs expressed appreciation to the former Deputy Minister, Samy Watson, for his contribution to the ESST.

The Co-chairs announced that Stéphanie Lussier had resigned from the ESST as she is no longer working at Options-Consommateurs.  The Co-chairs thanked Ms. Lussier for her contribution to the Table.  ESST members were requested to forward any membership recommendations to the Secretariat.

Report on the CCIT Meeting

The ESST Co-chairs gave a debrief of the Cross-cutting Issues Table (CCIT) meeting that took place on April 11-12, 2006.  The presentation given by the ESST Co-chairs to the CCIT members describing the development and progress of the ESST was circulated.

Future of the ESST

Given changes in Ottawa, members discussed the merits and potential content of a letter to the Clerk of the Privy Council related to the value of the ESST.  In the discussion, members expressed their willingness to continue to support the ESST. 

Decision

• The ESST Co-chairs will prepare a letter to the Clerk based on recommendations arising from the discussion.  The draft letter will be circulated to ESST members for comment prior to being sent to the Clerk.  The letter will be signed by the ESST Co-chairs.

Energy Efficiency

The Energy Efficiency Working Group (EEWG) Co-chairs, Michael Cleland and Marlo Raynolds, described the outcomes of the first EEWG meeting, held on May 31, 2006 in Montreal.  Several key points were raised, including:

• A consultant to undertake research for the group is expected to be hired before the end of July.  In the event that the SSTs do not proceed as planned, NRCan could provide the support needed to allow the completion of the work outlined in the contract.
• An interim report from the consultant is expected in Fall 2006 and a final report by the end of March 2007.
• The Secretariat will organize a conference call for the EEWG over the summer, and the next face-to-face meeting in early September.

Sustainable Transportation

Phil Kurys, Director, Sustainable Transportation, Transport Canada, provided a presentation on sustainable transportation, touching on social, economic and environmental aspects.  This presentation was followed by a panel discussion organized by Ken Ogilvie with participants: John Lawson (Lawson Research), Martin Lee-Gosselin (Université Laval),Phil Kurys, Bob Oliver (Pollution Probe) and Lee Sims (IBI Group).  The panelists’ presentations covered a range of issues including automobile fuel efficiency, urban design, pricing and instruments, and transport energy use and behaviour.

The panellists identified three issues that the ESST could potentially focus on in terms of sustainable transportation.  These were the issues of the role of government in (1) vehicle fuel efficiency; (2) the use of pricing instruments; and (3) expanding capacity to showcase technologies.

Decisions

• The Secretariat will electronically distribute copies of the panellists’ presentations.  These will also be posted on the SST website.
• The issue of sustainable transportation was referred to the EEWG, recognizing that the some elements may fall outside the mandate of the EEWG.  The EEWG will report back to the Table on its work on transportation, including recommendations on further work that the Table could undertake.

Vision

A briefupdate on the work of the Vision Sub-group was provided by Ken Ogilvie.  Given that not all of the scanning work has been completed, the Sub-group has not been able to develop a perspective on the critical challenges facing Canada’s energy sector and consequent priorities for the ESST.  There was consensus that the Vision Sub-group would convene over the summer to work through the key issues including benchmarking against other countries/sectors and bring forward a draft proposal on priorities for discussion at the next meeting of the ESST.  Table members acknowledged that it is difficult to arrive at a vision for the Table without a clear signal from the federal government on the future direction of SSTs.

Decisions

• Comments on the draft Environmental Scan and the draft Management Instruments for the Energy Sector should be provided to the SST Secretariat by June 30.  Based on these comments, a revised version will be made available to the Vision subgroup.
• Taking into account the revised Environmental Scanand Management Instruments documents, along with the emerging Economic Scan being prepared by NRCan, the Vision Subgroup will work toward bringing forward a proposal on priorities and issues for discussion at the next meeting.  As an interim step, the early results will be discussed with the Co-chairs prior to the next ESST meeting. 
• In finalizing the Economic Scan, NRCan will informally consult with ESST members, then discuss the document within the Vision subgroup.  The product will be circulated to all ESST members prior to the September meeting.
• The focus of the next ESST meeting will be a practical discussion of the proposal developed by the subgroup. 
• Table members wishing to contribute to the work of the Vision subgroup may send their input and ideas to the Secretariat.
• Drafters of the Economic Scan, Environmental Scan and Management Instruments documents may be invited to the future Table meetings to provide information as required.

Technology

At the March 2006 ESST meeting, mapping and gap analysis on technologies for the energy sector was identified as a possible area of work for the ESST.  During a conference call by the Sub-group[1] on technology, it was decided that NRCan would inform the Table about work currently being done on technology issues.

The presentation by Graham Campbell, Director General of the Office of Energy Research and Development, NRCan, was entitled, “Energy Science & Technology:  Maximizing Technology’s Contribution to Solve Stakeholders’ Needs.”  The presentation included information on NRCan’s Energy S&T delivery mechanisms and strategic approach, as well as possible synergies and coordination with other S&T initiatives.

Decisions

• When the Report of the National Advisory Panel on Energy Science and Technology is available, NRCan will ensure that it is circulated to ESST members.
• A separate synopsis outlining other S&T initiatives, including upcoming work and scheduled meetings, will be prepared by NRCan.  This synopsis will help ensure that the work of the ESST does not overlap with other groups.
• NRCan will clarify the definitions of R&D spending raised with respect to slides 5, 6 and 7 in the presentation.
• The report of the Energy Technology Working Group of the Council of Energy Ministers will be circulated.

Next Meeting

The proposed timing of the next ESST meeting is September.