Kirkland Lake Project

Public Consultation during the EA Planning Process

Consultation is an essential component of the EA planning process. It enables stakeholders to participate in making decisions that affect them and provides the proponent with valuable input that can enhance the quality of the planning process and the undertaking.

BEI followed a comprehensive consultation during the EPA process, prior to designation under the EAA on May 10, 2000. This consultation is described in detail in Background Document 6 - Record of Public Consultation Prior to the EA Process. The Draft Terms of Reference has also undergone an extensive government and public review. This is presented in Background Document 7 - Record of Public Consultation on the Draft Terms of Reference.

BEI has developed a comprehensive consultation plan for the development of its EA. The plan is based on a set of consultation principles that it has adopted, and a variety of consultation methods and communications tools that it will employ throughout the EA planning process to seek public and government agency input and respond to comments received.

Principles of Consultation

BEI has adopted the following principles to guide its consultation efforts:

The consultation process will be open. BEI will make reasonable efforts to ensure that the consultation process is open to all potentially affected government agencies and organizations, groups, or individuals that may be affected or interested in the process. BEI will make reasonable efforts at the outset of the EA planning process to inform potential parties of the nature of the EA process and the undertaking, and how they may participate in the process. Once interested stakeholders have been identified, BEI will focus its consultation efforts on those parties. However, BEI will take steps to ensure that new stakeholders can become involved at later stages in the development of the EA when additional matters or more detailed sources of information are considered.

The consultation process will be transparent. BEI will document the consultation process that is carried out for the development of the EA so that the process can be understood and traced.

The consultation process will be responsive. BEI will provide opportunities for stakeholders to comment on the development of the EA. BEI will respond to the comments received in a timely manner.

The consultation process will be meaningful. BEI will document in the EA the comments that it receives and the responses that it provides. The responses will indicate how BEI intends to incorporate comments into the EA planning process. Where BEI concurs with any suggested changes to the EA, BEI will indicate how the change will be made. Where BEI disagrees with a suggested change, BEI will provide an explanation for its position. BEI will seek comment at key milestones before irreversible decisions are made in the EA planning process.