(Ottawa) Environmental groups criticize the Liberal government’s proposed changes to the Federal Law on Environmental Impact Assessment.
In a letter addressed to federal ministers, they say they are “concerned” that Ottawa is not fulfilling its responsibility to protect Canadians from pollution.
The Liberal government seeks to limit the scope of the Impact Assessment Act and remove the requirement for federal assessments for projects that produce “interprovincial” air pollution.
These changes are outlined in the implementation bill for the most recent federal budget.
The changes were made following a ruling by the Supreme Court, which concluded last October that certain sections of the federal law encroached on areas of provincial jurisdiction. But environmental groups say the changes to the law proposed by the Liberals go further than what the Supreme Court asked for.
“The federal government has a strong case for jurisdiction over serious transboundary air pollution,” Ecojustice attorney Josh Ginsberg wrote in an email. He should make his points, not run from them. »
The Liberal government has faced harsh and sustained criticism from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and several provincial premiers over environmental policy, particularly carbon pricing.
Neither the NDP nor the federal Green Party supports the proposed amendments.
“My NDP colleagues and I are deeply concerned that greenhouse gas emissions will no longer be taken into account in impact assessments,” wrote MP Laurel Collins in a letter sent to the Minister of Health. ‘Environment, Steven Guilbeault.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said her party cannot support this “quick and dirty” solution to the law.
Mr. Guilbeault, himself a former environmental activist, said the changes were made to ensure full compliance with the Supreme Court decision.
“I respectfully disagree with my former colleagues in the environmental movement,” he said.
Stewart Elgie, director of the Environment Institute at the University of Ottawa, said the government was taking a “big step backwards” in environmental law by ceding ground to the provinces on pollution. cross-border that Ottawa has been regulating for decades.
Even the environmental assessment law adopted by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, which reduced its scope and expanded the minister’s discretionary power, still covered transboundary pollution, he recalled.
“So they are doing less than the Harper government in terms of environmental assessment,” he noted, adding that he was only talking about cross-border emissions.
However, other laws have come into force since the initial adoption of the law in 2019, noted Mr. Guilbeault.
“We didn’t have methane regulations in Canada, zero-emission vehicle standards and clean fuel standards. All of these things have been developed since the adoption of the Impact Assessment Act. »