History of the NDG

The New Directions Group has existed on an informal basis since 1990, periodically convening leaders of the business and NGO communities to debate potentially divisive sustainability issues. The NDG arose out of the proliferation of consultative processes that began in the 1980s which increased the exposure of the traditionally polarized business and environmental communities to each other. It became evident to many participants that there were points of convergence as well as polarity between business and environmental interests and that these issues might best be explored by direct interaction.

Dr. Glen Toner (School of Public Administration, Carleton University), Beatrice Olivastri (Centre for Our Common Future in Switzerland), and Dr. Frank Frantisak (Senior Vice-President Environment, Noranda Inc.) met in August 1990 and conceived of the idea of a meeting between leaders of the business and environmental communities to test the hypothesis. They believed that if business and environmental leaders could find common ground on key issues they would be able to catalyze change faster than existing policy processes.

On December 1, 1990, 24 senior representatives of major Canadian corporations and environmental organizations met in Ottawa. Participants included Denis Wilcock (CEO, DOW Chemical Canada), Janine Ferretti (Executive Director, Pollution Probe), Adam Zimmerman (Chairman, Noranda Forest Inc.) and Tony Hodge (Chairperson, Friends of the Earth). At the end of a dynamic and productive day participants decided that they should continue to explore opportunities for information exchange and collaboration. The New Directions Group was born.

The first topic tackled by the NDG was "zero discharge" and in September 1991 the NDG released the report Reducing And Eliminating Toxic Substances Emissions: An Action Plan For Canada which had an immediate impact and the NDG was cited as a prime example of new ways of environmental decision-making by then federal Minister of Environment, the Honourable Jean Charest. Replicating this success proved difficult, however, as the NDG operated with a more or less fixed but diverse membership and it proved difficult to galvanize the interest of the entire group around any single issue.

From 1991 to 1996, the NDG existed largely though the efforts of a volunteer steering committee which was tasked with identifying issues and opportunities for dialogue. In 1996, Paul Griss (who, as executive director of the Canadian Nature Federation, was a participant in the founding meeting) took on the role of NDG Coordinator to provide a focal point for the identification and development of NDG initiatives. The immediate result was reconstitution of the NDG membership around the issue of voluntary approaches to environmental protection leading to the report Criteria and Principles for the Use of Voluntary or Non-regulatory Initiatives to Achieve Environmental Policy Objectives.

By the late 1990s, examples of dialogue, partnership and collaboration among business and NGOs were proliferating, particularly in Europe and the USA. Canada had no existing national mechanism for such interaction other than the NDG, whose ad hoc nature and lack of core resources prevented it from fully capitalizing on this trend. While the NDG's informal structure is a strength that has allowed its projects to be topical and influential, several veteran members of the NDG recognized the opportunity to increase the breadth and depth of the NDG by engaging more companies and NGOs and tackling a wider range of issues.

At another key meeting in March 2000, Ken Ogilvie (Executive Director, Pollution Probe), Gord Lambert (Corporate Director, Environment Health and Safety, Suncor Energy), David Rodier (Senior Vice President, Environment Safety and Health, Noranda Inc.) and Paul Griss (NDG Coordinator) developed an approach to "flexibly institutionalize" the NDG providing a framework within which it can expand its reach and influence while still retaining its informality. A prime objective of the new NDG is to enhance the capacity of business and NGO participants to address key environmental policy issues which will contribute to a more informed and constructive policy debate on these issues in Canada.

Suncor Energy, Alcan, Noranda, Dow Chemical Canada, and INCO pledged multi-year financial support to the NDG and a number of national NGOs including Pollution Probe and the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development agreed to support the initiative. In the fall of 2000, leaders of the business and NGO communities were convened to help develop a three-year workplan for the NDG. A similar workshop was convened in March 2004 resulting in a new workplan for the NDG for the period 2004-2007. Suncor Energy, Alcan, Noranda, Dow, Pollution Probe, the Pembina Institute, the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy and a number of other business and NGOs have reconfirmed their support for the next phase in the development of the NDG.