BackNew Brunswick’s Ombudsman released his Report into the Provincial Department of Environment’s Management of the Water Classification Program on Friday, August 15th. In his report, Charles Murray outlines a series of administrative shortcomings that expose the systemic flaws behind a regulatory scheme that offered little or no concrete environmental protection due to its non-implementation, thereby misleading interested citizens and groups such as the complainants in this file, the Nashwaak Watershed Association. While the investigation has revealed the existence of a “troubling use of ministerial discretion” in this specific case, the Ombudsman has broadened the scope of its recommendations to include all provincial governmental departments who could potentially find themselves in similar legal and administrative inertia. Charles Murray’s recommendations call on government to ensure the clarity of a public agency’s statutory authority before implementing and enforcing any regulatory scheme, that the scheme’s effectiveness be measurable and the ministerial discretion be exercised in a manner that is consistent with the principles of administrative law.
For the full Report, please click HERE.
Source: Ombudsman of New Brunswick, CANADA
