2. Methodology

This review was led by ECCC in collaboration with the City of Montreal. The MDDELCC, the Mohawks Councils of Kahnawake, Akwesasne, and Kanesatake, and the Grand Conseil de la Nation Waban-Aki voluntarily agreed to participate in the comprehensive review process. A list of the participants can be found in Annex 2.

The three-phase review process took place from December 15, 2015 to March 31, 2016, as follows:

1. Preliminary information meetings for Indigenous communities

Two preliminary information meetings for Indigenous communities affected by the discharge were held on December 15 and 16, 2015. During the meetings, representatives of ECCC and the City of Montreal presented basic information on the St. Lawrence ecosystem, Montreal’s wastewater treatment system, the November 2015 discharge, and how the comprehensive review of the events would be carried out. The purpose of these meetings was to explain in detail the work carried out, share scientific data on the potential impacts, and listen to the Indigenous communities’ perspectives.

2. Bilateral meetings between representatives of ECCC and those of the City of Montreal, MDDELCC and Indigenous communities

ECCC held a series of bilateral meetings between February 2 and 18, 2016 with the aim of establishing the chronology of events that led to the discharge, and identifying the intergovernmental communications channels used. At these meetings, the parties were also asked to comment on the process that ECCC proposed for the comprehensive review and on Indigenous consultations and engagement. In addition, the parties had an opportunity to discuss the comprehensive review of the discharge, identify the lessons learned from the events, and formulate recommendations.

3. Workshop for the parties involved in the comprehensive review

A workshop attended by the majority of the parties was held on March 8, 2016 in Montreal to finalize the recommendations arising from the analysis of the information gathered at the previous meetings. No MDDELCC representatives attended as the department preferred to send its comments to ECCC in writing.