The BAPE (Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement) has now been advising the Canadian Ministry of Sustainable Development, the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MDDELCC) for 40 years on the ecological, social and economic impacts of various projects affecting citizens. The creation of the authority was based on the idea that a more comprehensive approach to policy making must be adopted, which requires that not only economic interests but all dimensions of an activity are taken into account in the planning process. The MDDELCC requests that the authority also generally investigates the raison d’être of all projects. Some question whether this is the task of the authority but in fact, if the commission did not deal with this crucial issue, it would not live up to its mandate. It is therefore erroneous to say that the BAPE goes beyond its mandate when it comes to the justification of a project, or one of its social and economic dimensions. This global and comprehensive approach is not limited to Canadian legislation but also codified in the international Aarhus Convention, signed in 1998.
