Approved December 9, 2003

MINUTES
INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION
EXECUTIVE MEETING
Ottawa, Ontario
October 20, 2003

The International Joint Commission met in executive session at the Canadian Section office in Ottawa, Ontario October 20, 2003 with Chair Herb Gray in the chair.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

1. Commissioners approved the agenda (reflected by these minutes), noting that several items had been discussed on the October 15, 2003 conference call.

APPOINTMENTS

2. The Commission agreed, pursuant to their decision on the October 15, 2003 conference call, to hold on sending the letter of appointment for David Ullrich to the Water Quality Board, pending consultation with the Co-chairs of that Board.

12^th BIENNIAL REPORT

3. Commissioners agreed that:

1. the Commission Chairs would be the lead Commissioners and that a drafting team would be selected at a special November face-to-face meeting;
2. the report should be released in spring/summer 2004, recognizing the related work of the GLWQA Review;
3. a notional draft Table of Contents should be prepared by staff for discussion at the above November meeting;
4. the staff analysis of the governments' response to the 11^th Biennial report was very useful and might be helpful in preparing the 12^th Biennial report.

PROPOSED ALIEN INVASIVE SPECIES (AIS) REFERENCE

4. The Commission:

1. noted growing support for a Reference to the Commission from the public and non-governmental organizations;
2. agreed that a Reference would allow the IJC to facilitate the process and not suggest a solution to the AIS issue;
3. noted the Reference could focus on cataloguing who is currently doing what, presenting expected timelines for products and outcomes, describing what coordinating mechanisms are being used and what are the existing pressures (e.g., economic), and recommending how coordination and harmonization could be improved and timelines accelerated;
4. agreed that staff should draft proposed terms of reference to use at consultation meetings with government officials.

THREE-YEAR WATER USES REVIEW REFERENCE

5. The Commission noted that staff were still preparing the report and agreed that a co-ordinated draft should be available for review at the special November meeting.

DUCK LAKE

6. The Commission agreed:

1. to revoke the Orders for Duck Lake effective at the Commission's December Executive meeting;
2. that letters should be sent to the federal, Idaho and British Columbia governments and the Kootenay Lake Board of Control, informing them of this decision;
3. that a press release should be prepared for local papers and that those who attended the recent IJC Public Hearing in Creston, B.C., should be notified following finalization of the IJC decision in December.

GRAND COULEE DAM

7. The Commission:

1. noted the reply from Mr. Fortier on behalf of the Canadian Columbia River Inter-tribal Fisheries Commission and the lack of a response to date from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade;
2. agreed to forward Mr. Fortier's latest letter to governments, to ask the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs to reply to Chair Gray's earlier letter, and to send copies of all correspondence to the International Columbia River Board of Control to keep it informed.

INTERNATIONAL SOURIS RIVER BOARD

8. The Commission:

1. accepted the Discussion Paper drafted by the Souris Board describing an expanded mandate for the Board as a basis for moving forward on this initiative;
2. agreed to work with the Board and the Souris River Bilateral Water Quality Monitoring Group to develop an action plan of tasks to be pursued, timing and agencies/groups to be contacted;
3. agreed to raise this issue with governments at the session on October 23.

INTERNATIONAL RED RIVER BOARD

9. Commissioners discussed progress toward a Watershed Board in the Red River basin and the policy questions raised by the Board and agreed that staff should draft a letter to the Board providing guidance on the policy questions.

IJC WEBSITE

10. Commissioners received a demonstration of the new website to be presented at the semiannual reception the next day and agreed that:

1. the Orders themselves, a list of structures (projects) subject to IJC jurisdiction, and relevant maps be included on the website;
2. a detailed plan for Phase III would be submitted for discussion at the December executive meeting.

BRIEFING OF ISSUES PRIOR TO APPEARANCES OF IJC BOARDS

GREAT LAKES CONTROL BOARDS

11. The Commission agreed to write to the Co-chairs of the Joint Canada-US Joint Task Force on the Power Outage (Herb Daliwal, Canadian Minister of Natural Resources and Spencer Abraham, US Energy Secretary), informing them of the experiences of the Commission's three Great Lakes Control Boards during the electrical emergency.

INTERNATIONAL LAKE ONTARIO - ST. LAWRENCE RIVER STUDY BOARD

12. The Commission agreed to:

1. consider the information management needs of the study and data maintenance considerations after conclusion of the study, and directed staff to provide recommendations for the December 2003 executive meeting;
2. a presentation of the "Shared Vision Model" to Commissioners during the December 2003 executive meeting and an in-depth briefing on the Study for Commissioners in June 2004.

HEALTH PROFESSIONAL TASK FORCE (HPTF)

13. The Commission received the proposed workplan and budget of the HPTF for 2003 -2004 and agreed to defer approval until it had time to review it in more detail.