Environmental Assessment

OTTAWA — Canada’s environmental assessment law should be reformed through a scheduled parliamentary review, not weakened through piecemeal amendments buried in a budget bill, Ecojustice and Sierra Club Canada said today.

“Parliament should close loopholes in environmental laws, not create new ones to suit the tar sands and other extractive industries,” said Stephen Hazell, Ecojustice lawyer. “The Senate Finance Committee has an opportunity to avoid creating new legal loopholes and prevent catastrophes such as Deepwater Horizon from happening in Canada.” Read More

OTTAWA— Ecojustice and Sierra Club Canada will tell the House of Commons Finance Committee today to remove sections from the budget bill (C-9) that gut Canada’s environmental assessment law. Again this year, the federal government is hiding changes to Canada’s environmental protection laws in the budget to avoid public scrutiny.

“Canada’s environmental assessment law should be publicly debated in the House of Commons Environment Committee, not weakened through quick-and-dirty amendments buried in budget bills,” said Ecojustice lawyer Stephen Hazell. “Parliament is legally required to start a comprehensive review of this law in June, and the Environment Committee should be the body to recommend any changes.” Read More

Simon Dyer, Oil Sands Director for the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to measures in Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s Budget Implementation Bill (Part 20, Environmental Assessment, Bill C-9) that empower the federal government to avoid full environmental assessment of oil sands development:

“Over the past several years the Government of Canada has been trying to dodge its responsibilities for environmental assessment of proposed oil sands developments. This has led to a number of successful court challenges in which it was deemed that the government was not fulfilling its obligation to assess projects and protect the environmental interests of Canadians. Read More