Implementation of Legislation

Statutes passed by either the provincial or federal government can be aimed at private citizens, but more commonly also give responsibilities and powers to the government itself.   Obviously it’s impossible for the Ministers assigned responsibility for a particular Statute to make every decision or implement every programme. 

Consequently, each Minister has staff to assist him or her, organized into a ministry (provincially) or a department (federally).  See the pages on federal and provincial responsibilities for more information on departments and ministries with responsibilities related to watershed management.  It is the Executive (cabinet) that decides which minister will be responsible for which Statute.

Understanding how a ministry or department is organized can help a watershed protection advocate know who to talk to in government. 

There are several places that a Watershed Advocate must look to understand how a particular piece of legislation will be implemented:

Legislation

Sometimes the statute itself, or regulations created under it, set out who is responsible for implementing it.  It may name a certain government official responsible for making a decision under the Act.  That official can be referred to as a “Statutory Decision-Maker”, and will be required to follow the Act closely in making that decision. 

In some cases Statutes create a more court-like group – arms-length from the Ministry or Department – to hear from competing interests and make a decision.  A body of this type is known as a “tribunal”, will have to follow the requirements of the Act and its regulations, but will also have its own process and information about how it operates.  A major example of a tribunal in B.C. environmental legislation is the Environmental Appeal Board. 

A Statute, or sometimes an administrative arrangement, can create a government corporation (otherwise known as a crown corporation) to carry out a public business separate from government responsibilities. 

Sometimes the statute simply says that a “Minister” is responsible for making decisions.  If the decision is relatively minor it is likely that the Minister responsible for the statute will delegate the decision to someone in his or her ministry. 

The Ministry/Department

A government official or Ministry/Department responsible for a particular decision or for implementing a programme is given discretion to determine how it will make the decision or administer the programme.  However, for reasons of consistency and communication, the Ministries usually develop certain guidelines or administrative arrangements designed to make it clear who will make what decisions, how and for what reason.  For information about how government operates look for:

·         Service Plans/Strategies – Both the federal and provincial governments require their ministries to set out their plans for the future, including how they plan to fulfill their responsibilities and meet government objectives.  In British Columbia these plans include Ministry Service Plans, although individual government ministries or agencies may have other documents outlining their plans.  Federally Departments prepare reports on Plans and Priorities which can be found on their individual websites. 

·         Sustainable Development Strategies – In addition to general plans for how to meet goals, most federal Departments are required to develop Sustainable Development Strategies – a plan of how sustainable development is incorporated into the Department’s work.  Plans are underway at the provincial level to develop Sustainability Guidelines, together with a requirement that Ministries indicate how a decision will meet those guidelines. 

·         Policy – Ministries invariably have policies about how they operate, although they often vary wildly in terms of detail.  Policies are not usually legally binding on government, but you can certainly point to policy when talking to a government decision-maker about why a certain decision should or should not be made.  Ministry policy is increasingly available on the internet. 

·         Agreements/Memoranda of Understanding – When two government agencies are working on related issues they will often develop an agreement or protocol between them about how decisions should be made.  This may involve an agreement between two ministries in the same government, between a provincial ministry and a federal department (ie. Canada-B.C. Cooperation Agreements), or between a department/ministry and some other government body.  In many cases these agreements involve coordination between the government agencies and/or a commitment to refer decisions to each other for comment before a final decision is made.  In some cases these memoranda may be enforceable by the government agencies that signed them, but not by members of the public.

·         Internal organization – Each Minister determines how his or her department or ministry will be structured to best deliver the programs it feels are important, or is able to provide.  Thus an understanding of the organization of departments and ministries can help understand how decisions are made. 

It is important to talk to people in government about how they make decisions.  Ask questions and try to figure out who you need to influence to get things done. 

A related question is the enforcement of legislation.  Government ministries set up procedures and infrastructure for government to implement legislation, but the law also requires private citizens to do certain things, or to refrain from doing certain things.  What happens when someone – whether government or a private citizen – break the law?  How does the government go about getting people to comply with the law?  See the Guide page on Enforcement for more answers. 

 

Related Guide Pages:

·                    Organization of Ministries/Departments.

·                    Compliance and Enforcement.