News

There's been a whole lot of talk these past weeks about the future of Canada's environmental laws. Are the Prime Minister's proposed changes a much-needed streamlining of environmental reviews? Or are we witnessing the gutting and slashing of a generation's worth of environmental protections? 

 

After releasing a budget that clearly placed resource exports over environmental health, the government has followed through with legislative changes that severely weaken the environmental safety net that Canadians have long depended on for clean air, water and land.

 

Among other changes, the Conservative government will significantly reduce federal environmental oversight of natural resource development projects, impose limits on who can participate in environmental reviews and reduce the time permitted to review projects. 

 

History has taught us that rushed and superficial public review of megaprojects risks leaving taxpayers on the hook for multibillion dollar clean-up costs when things go wrong later. Think Giant Mine in Yellowknife. Or the pulp and paper mills of Dryden, Ontario.  Or radiation clean up in Port Hope. 

 

The key purpose of environmental assessment is to “look before you leap” – that is, to carefully consider the long-term environmental consequences of a development proposal before deciding whether or how to proceed. While other federal laws are more reactive and not engaged until after damage to the environment has already occurred, environmental assessment is one of the few institutionalized processes Canada has developed to prevent environmentally harmful activities or projects from being approved in the first place.

 

By preventing problems before they start, environmental assessment is good for the economy. Making sure a project is environmentally sound before it begins is alot easier -- and cheaper – than after the fact.  Just ask BP whether preventing an oil spill is a better option than having to clean one up. 

 

Canada needs a measured and thoughtful approach that ensures that we approve projects that make the greatest contribution to a sustainable economy and put them in the right place, not a ‘rubber stamp’ for development at all costs.