A/HRC/45/12/Add.3 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes (Advance Unedited Version) — Comments from Canadian authorities We have received for comments an advance unedited version of the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes after his visit to Canada in May-June 2019. As a federated state, provinces and territories in Canada have jurisdictions over several environmental issues. Enclosed follows some comments and proposals for change in the report from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Health Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec. Comments from Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Para 79 & 80, comments: Article 19 of UNDRIP states: “States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.” The obligation the report is referring to in paragraph 79 is too broad in that the declaration speaks to states and not to “any measure”, but to “before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures”. Also, the difference between “and obtain their consent” versus “in order to obtain their consent” should be flagged as there is still debate in Canada over whether “free, prior and informed consent” is an obligation to consult or an obligation to gain consent. As the report does note, while Canada has signed onto UNDRIP, the declaration has been incorporated into domestic law only in the province of British Columbia, not to date in the rest of Canada. Comments from Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Para 8, 5th sentence, comments: This sentence should read: “Other examples include involvement of Health Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Indigenous Services Canada. Para 74, 1st sentence, comments: This sentence should be more specific. For example: “Initiatives such as the Northern Participant Funding, which supports the informed engagement of Indigenous governments and other northerners in the environmental and socio-economic assessment processes established under land claims agreements in Canada’s three territories, are promising, as are similar programs supporting Indigenous participation in federal environmental assessments in the provinces”. Comments from Environment and Climate Change Canada General considerations We recommend using Environment and Climate Change Canada throughout the report as it is the Department’s full name. 2