The Supreme Court last week ruled that elements of Ottawa’s Impact Assessment Act are unconstitutional, a decision that Member of Parliament for St. Albert - Edmonton Michael Cooper called a “victory for Alberta.” But Cooper said that the federal government must “scrap” the act entirely and “go back to the drawing board.”
The Impact Assessment Act, also known as Bill C-69, outlines how certain natural resource projects such as power-generating facilities and pipelines are to be evaluated before they can break ground.
Introduced by parliament in 2019, the act widened the amount of public consultation and the number of environmental checks required for natural resource projects. It also allowed for a great deal more Indigenous participation in the approval of projects.
Critics say that it puts too many hurdles in the way of industry and gives the federal government unconditional authority to approve or reject projects.
Proponents see it as critical for ensuring projects do as little environmental damage as possible and don’t negatively impact communities.
The Supreme Court in a 5-2 majority ruling found that although the federal government is acting within the bounds of the constitution by requiring impact assessments on federal lands and certain projects outside of Canada, the government overstepped by seeking to regulate projects that should be overseen by the provinces.
Last week’s ruling does not mean that the law has been scrapped — but there is an expectation that the federal government will change the legislation to align with the Supreme Court’s findings.
Cooper said that the act has meant lost investment for Canada.
He pointed to natural gas projects off the coast of Newfoundland that have been held up by the impact assessment process.
“And this is at a time when Canadians should be leveraging for example, exporting [Liquid Natural Gas (LNG)] when there is a global demand for LNG, especially in light of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine,” he said.
“The government put ideology ahead of jobs and investment and ahead of following the law and respecting the jurisdiction of the provinces when it comes to resource development.”
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson last Friday said that the Supreme Court’s concerns could be addressed in a “relatively surgical” way.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said that the government accepts the Supreme Court’s opinion.
“It provides new guidance on the Impact Assessment Act, while explicitly affirming the rights of the government of Canada to put in place impact assessment legislation and collaborate with the provinces on environmental protection,” he said.
Cooper said Liberals seem to be “doubling down” on “the government’s unconstitutional approach.”
“What we need is a government that consults with industry and with the provinces,” he said.
