Approved December 6, 2006

MINUTES
INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION
EXECUTIVE MEETING
Ottawa, Ontario
October 17, 2006

The International Joint Commission met in Executive Session at the Canadian Section office in Ottawa, Ontario on October 17, 2006 and with its Boards and Task Forces, Governments and invited presenters, on October 18, 19 and 20, 2006, with Herb Gray in the chair.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

1. The Commission approved the agenda with the addition of a report on the visit to the Alberta Tar Sands project by Chair Schornack, Secretary Bourget and John Nevin; and considering a draft letter of support on behalf of the city of Sarnia.
   
   

MINUTES

2. The Commission approved the Minutes of the September 22, 2006 conference call.
   
   

APPOINTMENTS

3. The Commission approved the appointments of Dr. Raymond Copes as a Canadian member of the Health Professionals Task Force for a three-year term ending March 31, 2006; and Dr. Susan Ellen Cosens as a Canadian member of the International Red River Board for a three-year term ending October 30, 2009.
   
   

BRING-FORWARD SYSTEM

4. Commissioners approved sending a follow-up letter to the Commission's July 24, 2006 letter to Ministers Ambrose and Broten concerning the discharge of raw sewage into the St. Marys River. (Subsequently a reply was received from the Government of Ontario.)
   
   

IJC CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE

5. Commissioners approved:
   
   1. total funding of $18,000 to chapter authors of a book to be published in January 2009 to coincide with the centennial of the Boundary Waters Treaty;
   2. scheduling a time for personal interviews with Professors Brooks and Rabe pursuant to the above book;
   3. Secretaries discussing with Professors Brooks and Rabe names for the binational team of scholars assembled for the above project;
   4. sending reminder letters to the Canadian and U.S. postal entities concerning a joint stamp; and
   5. consulting governments informally if they had any celebratory activities planned pursuant to this centennial.
   
   
   

PROPOSAL FOR AN IJC FOUNDATION/INSTITUTE

6. Commissioners discussed the possibility of establishing an IJC Foundation/Institute and approved determining the scope and cost of seeking outside legal advice on this matter, considering models existing with other Great Lakes bodies, and consulting with the governments at an appropriate time.
   
   

IJC APPLICATIONS AND REFERENCES

7. Commissioners confirmed their support for a proposal to put a complete list of IJC Applications and References on the IJC website and approved further joint staff work to implement the proposal.
   
   

UNSAFE DAMS UPDATE REPORT

8. Commissioners approved leaving the decision as to whether the Commission should participate in Ontario's Stakeholder Advisory Panel to Chair Gray pending further consultations with the Province.
   
   

GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY AGREEMENT (GLWQA) REVIEW

A.  COMMISSION'S GLWQA REVIEW SPECIAL REPORT

9. Commissioners discussed the communication plan for this Report and approved its release on October 24 and formally transmitting the report to governments with letters signed by the Chairs.
   
   

B.  GOVERNMENTS' GLWQA REVIEW

10. Commissioners received an update on the status and direction of the governments' ongoing review.
    
    

2007 GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY AGREEMENT (GLWQA) BIENNIAL MEETING

11. Commissioners discussed plans for the June 2007 meeting in Chicago and approved:
    
    1. the dates of June 6-7 (subsequently, an opening reception on June 5 was also approved);
    2. providing a session for governments and the public concerning the GLWQA Review;
    3. focusing the Stakeholder forum on mayors and municipalities as well as greater business/industry involvement;
    4. providing the list of proposed science and policy workshops to our GLWQA Boards for their views;
    5. not having a field trip;
    6. not to request a grant in lieu of charging a registration fee;
    7. having a Great Lakes Science Award; and
    8. using this meeting to help decide whether or not to hold future such Biennial meetings.
    
    
    

13^TH BIENNIAL REPORT ON GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY

12. Commissioners discussed the draft report and agreed that Commissioners and staff should provide comments to the lead drafters so that a final draft could be considered for approval at the December executive meeting.
    
    

LAKE ONTARIO - ST. LAWRENCE RIVER STUDY

13. Commissioners continued their review of the Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Orders of Approval and received a debrief on the recent Adaptive Management Workshop and consultation meetings with members of the U.S. Congress and Congressional staff.
    
    

INTERNATIONAL ST. LAWRENCE RIVER BOARD OF CONTROL - REQUEST FOR COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT

14. Commissioners discussed the Board's request for communications support in their letter of August 28, 2006, and agreed on the nature of a response to the Board's request (subsequently, a letter to the Board was approved).
    
    

UPPER GREAT LAKES STUDY

15. Commissioners received an update on staffing the Canadian Director and Study Manager and noted that the Canadian Section planned to submit these nominations for approval as soon as possible, and that options for other U.S. and Canadian board members would also be provided to Commissioners at that time with a view to having as many Board members as possible available to meet with Commissioners at the December executive meeting.
    
    

GRAND COULEE DAM

16. Commissioners approved a formal response to the CCRIFC request of April 25, 2003 with copies to the governments and approved posting the response on the IJC's website.
    
    

ST. MARY AND MILK RIVERS

17. Commissioners received an update on finalizing the Task Force Report and its submission to the Commission.
    
    

OTHER BUSINESS

INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF BASIN ORGANIZATIONS (INBO), SEPTEMBER 20-22, 2006

18. Commissioners received a briefing from Commissioner Brooks on the 4^th European Conference on the Implementation of the European Water Framework, Europe INBO 2006, Megève, France, and observations regarding the Commission's role in the organization.
    
    

15^TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES, SEPTEMBER 23-27, 2007, NIJMEGEN, THE NETHERLANDS

19. Commissioners approved participation and financial support not to exceed $5,000.
    
    

LETTER OF SUPPORT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF SARNIA

20. Commissioners approved the draft letter for signature by the Chairs.
    
    

ALBERTA TAR SANDS PROJECT

21. Commissioners received a briefing from Chair Schornack describing his visit to this project.
    
    

2006 ANNUAL REPORT

22. Commissioners reviewed an initial list of proposed topics for the report.
    
    

EMAIL ADDRESSES

23. Commissioners asked staff to investigate the ability to use shorter email addresses.
    
    

COMMISSION MEETINGS WITH GOVERNMENTS

24. Commissioners asked Secretaries to hold informal consultations with government staff to consider how our joint meetings might be improved.
    
    

Decisions made during discussion/appearances of Boards/Task Forces reporting at the meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, October 18-19, 2006.

INTERNATIONAL AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD ENERGY WORKSHOP

25. Commissioners approved a budget of $25,000 for the International Air Quality Advisory Board to conduct work on a second Energy Deliberation, including the formation of an expert committee, a spring 2007 workshop, and a fall 2007 report to the Commission.
    
    

INTERNATIONAL LAKE SUPERIOR BOARD OF CONTROL

26. Commissioners approved releasing the board's semi-annual report to the public.
    
    

INTERNATIONAL NIAGARA BOARD OF CONTROL

27. Commissioners approved releasing the board's semi-annual report to the public.
    
    

INTERNATIONAL RAINY LAKE BOARD OF CONTROL

28. Commissioners approved posting data generated pursuant to agreements with the International Joint Commission on U.S. federal websites and suggested consideration of also making these data accessible through the IJC website.