Environmental groups are expressing dismay with amendments made to Bill C-69 which sets out a new environmental assessment process for major development projects.
The Senate had outlined a long list of amendments to the legislation, some of which were accepted by the federal government.
The Sierra Club of Canada says the federal government has accepted pro-oil amendments.
National Program Director with the Sierra Club Foundation of Canada, Gretchen Fitzgerald claims the regulators named in the bill are biased. They include the Newfoundland and Nova Scotia Petroleum Boards, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the new Canadian Energy Regulator. Hear her discussion with VOCM’s Linda Swain here:
Mark Butler the Policy Director of the Ecology Action Centre says Ottawa pledged to restore credibility to the environmental assessment process, and in Atlantic Canada they’ve done the opposite when it comes to offshore drilling.
Oil Producers Concerned With Lack of Local Voices
Meanwhile, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says the federal government is damaging the country’s economic future with Bill C-69.
CAPP says Ottawa is “ignoring the Senate and the will of Canadians” and is risking the country’s economic future by not accepting more amendments proposed by the Senate that CAPP says would have made the bill work.
Among the critical issues identified by CAPP are: the loss of local voices from stakeholders and local communities. It says the federal government is also signalling that jobs are not important and the Association is concerned that there is no hard cap on timelines.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association has written the Prime Minister outlining its concerns with Bill C-69 and the need to respect the Atlantic Accord.
CEO Charlene Johnson wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking that the federal government “right a wrong” by ensuring joint management of the offshore.
She tells the Prime Minister that “any other course of action…amounts to centralization of decision making” – something she calls a contradiction of the spirit and intent of the Atlantic Accord.
