The Challenge of Reconciling Water and Agricultural Policies —The Role of Public Hearings - Water and Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets and Policies - page 388

While the hearings on water management have clearly illustrated the need to better
control agricultural pollution, the hearings on hog farming have fostered public reflection
and debate and helped identify ways to steer hog farming - and agriculture in general -
on a course toward sustainability. The two reports drafted by the respective commissions
contained numerous concrete suggestions for improving water management practices and
integrating sustainable development principles into farming activities. Many of the
recommendations have led to the implementation of new government measures and
initiatives that are helping to eliminate inconsistencies between water protection measures
and government agricultural support programmes. An approach for participative
democracy as the one used by BAPE has been a very efficient way in making further
progress to meet the challenge of reconciling water and agricultural policies.
The adoption of the Québec Water Policy in 2002, as well as the important changes
that are under way in agricultural policies, were legitimised by the extensive public
consultations conducted by BAPE. More than a quarter century after its foundation - and
numerous studies and inquiries later - this agency has become a widely respected and
highly trusted provincial institution with a clear vision for:
… a Québec where the citizens of all regions are better informed about
environmental questions and major projects submitted for public consultation.
Citizens know that they have the possibility of being consulted by an independent
and impartial organization to ensure that their concerns and opinions are taken
into consideration when the government makes its decision
(BAPE, 2005).