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Feds’ sweeping environment bill to take centre stage in Senate, and beyond, as Parliament returns

1/28/2019

By PETER MAZEREEUW
Bill C-69, a bugaboo for conservative politicians and a target for environmentalists, is in for a long, rough ride in the Senate.

Senators will get back to work on the government’s controversial and sweeping environmental assessment bill, C-69, next week, as members of the Senate Environment Committee meet to debate a Conservative proposal to hold public hearings on the bill across the country.

Conservative Senators will use a Feb. 5 planning meeting to propose that the committee hold meetings on Bill C-69 in multiple cities. A majority of the members of the Senate Environment Committee have expressed concern with Bill C-69—which has been criticized by voices across the political and policy spectrum—but it’s not yet clear if the Conservatives will find enough support on the committee for a full cross-country tour.

“Canadians need to be heard on this,” said Conservative Senator Don Plett (Landmark, Man.), the Conservative Senate whip who oversees committee work for his caucus in the Red Chamber, but does not have a seat on the Environment Committee.

“The only way Canadians will be heard on this is if we do a tour across most of the country and listen to everyday Canadians as to how they feel about this bill,” he said.

The meeting is currently listed on the Senate website as in-camera—which is not unusual for meetings to plan committee studies—but Sen. Plett said the Conservatives would ask that it be held in public.

Bill C-69 is the government’s attempt to deliver on a Liberal election promise to make the beleaguered environmental assessment process for resource projects “more credible,” and reverse Conservative-era changes to environmental and waterway navigation laws. It strips the National Energy Board of its primary role in approving environmental assessments, and creates a new entity, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, to fill that role. The bill would alter more than 30 existing laws altogether, and would check off one of the items on Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s (Ottawa Centre, Ont.) mandate letter from the prime minister.

Bill C-69 has been roundly criticized by conservative Canadian politicians—including Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle, Sask.), Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, and United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney in Alberta—as well as prominent voices on the political left, such as Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands, B.C.). The House of Commons already passed more than 130 amendments to the bill in report stage, after Liberal MPs on the House Environment Committee worked with Ms. McKenna’s office to put together a raft of changes in response to concerns raised from industry, environmental groups, and Indigenous groups.

Many of the criticisms of C-69 have to do with clauses that allow the environment minister, with the approval of cabinet, to delay or put on hold the approval process for projects undergoing environmental assessments, or squash projects that he or she deems are not in the public interest, among other powers. The federal cabinet also has some discretion over the outcomes of environmental assessments under the current assessment process, and complaints about the previous government using it inappropriately led the Liberals to promise during the 2015 election campaign to “end the practice of having federal ministers interfere in the environmental assessment process.”

Chair cautious of tour expense, timeline

As a whipped caucus, the Senate Conservatives work more or less together on important bills. Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald (Cape Breton, N.S.), the Senate’s Environment Committee deputy chair, told The Hill Times earlier this month that he considered C-69 to be the most important bill in the Senate, and the Senate Conservatives have been strongly critical of the bill thus far.

The Conservatives occupy six seats on the 14-member Senate Environment Committee. The Independent Senators Group occupies another six, Senate Liberal Jane Cordy has another, and the last seat is held by unaffiliated Senator David Richards (New Brunswick).

Independent Senator Paula Simons (Alberta), who sits on the committee for the ISG, told The Hill Times last week that C-69 was “a very problematic piece of legislation” for Albertans, while Sen. Richards voted against the bill at second reading in the Senate. That means at least eight of the 14 committee members have, or had, serious concerns about Bill C-69.

Sen. Simons, however, also said she was concerned that a “full scale national tour” would be expensive, difficult to organize in a short period of time, and may take up too much time.

“I want to ensure we leave time to get the bill before the Senate, and then back before the Commons,” she said.

“I think it’s possible we might be able to hold a couple of hearings outside of Ottawa,” she said.

Independent Senator Rosa Galvez (Bedford, Que.), the chair of the Senate Environment Committee, said she was “not against travelling,” but wanted to see strong arguments for why the expense was necessary, and why those who wish to testify in front of the committee could not come to Ottawa to do so instead. She also said she wanted to ensure the tour would not be used for “political reasons.”

Senators can also organize their own meetings during break weeks with people or organizations from the region they represent who have an interest in the bill, she said.

When asked about the proposed tour, Independent Senator Yuen Pau Woo (B.C.), who sits on the committee and serves as the “facilitator” atop the Senate ISG, told The Hill Times in an emailed statement that “It should be possible for all relevant witnesses to travel to Ottawa or to deliver their testimony by video conference.”

“Individual senators have already received lots of input from interested parties so there is no shortage of material for our review of the bill.”

Unaffiliated Sen. Richards, who sat for a short time as a member of the ISG but has often voted the same way as the Conservatives, declined to comment on the bill.

It is rare but not unprecedented for a parliamentary committee to hold cross-country hearings. The House International Trade Committee visited eight Canadian cities during a marathon 2016 study of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, as the government decided what to do with the agreement, which had been negotiated by its Conservative predecessor.

‘Kill the bill’

The six Senate Conservatives on the committee will work to drastically alter the bill, and “we are not going to do anything to speed [the study] up, for sure,” said Sen. Plett.

“This bill needs major, major amendments. First of all our preference, of course, would be to kill the bill,” said Sen. Plett.

“Canadians have been told very clearly by the prime minister, he has no intention of calling an early election. Which means that we will in all likelihood be there until about June 21, and maybe later.”

“We don’t want to be obstructionist…if we cannot defeat this bill in its entirety, we want to do whatever we can to improve this bill. That will be done by amendment proposals, and hopefully we can get some passed.”

Sen. Galvez—who holds a PhD in environmental engineering and worked as an expert on pollution control before entering the Senate—said she had concerns related to three aspects of the bill: discretionary powers for the minister, clarity for industry, and public consultations for environmental assessments. She also said leaving the current regulatory regime in place is “not acceptable,” and that it was “killing the economy.”

Sen. Simons, the Independent from Alberta, will also be working on ways to amend C-69.

“I’ve been totally immersing myself in the fine detail of this bill. To me it’s a very flawed piece of legislation,” she said, adding she had met with lobbyists and interest groups representing the natural resource industry and environmental advocates.

Sen. Simons said she was concerned the bill would bring in a regulatory system for hydrocarbon and renewable resource projects that would be “unintelligible,” and “not reliable.” She also said she was worried about the broad discretionary powers afforded to the minister, and a “laundry list of things that must be considered for every project” that could open the door to litigation or confusion among the parties involved.

“I think this bill can be saved, but not without a lot of hard work.”

Sen. Simons said she wants the bill to be dealt with before the election.

“For me, dawdling and dragging it out, and hoping to kill it by letting it die on the Order Paper, I don’t think that’s a good strategic option for Albertans. There may be some Conservative Senators who disagree, who see letting it die on the Order Paper as the best possible outcome…In my conversations with people in industry, that doesn’t seem to be the preferred option.”

Sen. Plett said seeing the bill die on the Order Paper when Parliament rises in the spring “is hopefully not something that we’re going to need to do. It would be our preference that the bill be brought to a vote before that. But listen, if the government is going to be entirely uncooperative, and not listen to amendments, then we are going to do whatever is in our toolbox to do.”

READ MORE: https://www.hilltimes.com/2019/01/28/environment-bill-takes-centre-stage-senate-beyond-parliament-returns/185209

Demonstrations block traffic in support of Indigenous pipeline protesters in B.C.

1/9/2019

CTVNews.ca's Josh Dehaas, with files from CTV's Kevin Gallagher in Ottawa and Melanie Nagy in Vancouver

Protesters delayed a speech by the prime minister in Ottawa and blocked traffic in Toronto and Vancouver on Tuesday, after RCMP moved in on an Indigenous blockade to enforce an injunction that would allow a pipeline to proceed in northern British Columbia.

The rallies came one day after RCMP arrested 14 people at the blockade site southwest of Houston, B.C., where members of the Gidimt'en clan of Wet'suwet'en First Nation are trying to stop construction of Coastal GasLink’s pipeline from going ahead.

RCMP were expected to dismantle another camp nearby on Tuesday. Police have blocked members of the public including the media from accessing that camp, saying that the “temporary exclusion zone” is required for “privacy and safety.”

They said in a written statement on Monday that police “facilitated a meeting between hereditary chiefs and (Coastal GasLink) in the hopes that this could be resolved without police involvement,” but “it was determined that the matter could not be resolved.”

The pipeline would bring natural gas from near Dawson Creek to a port on the coast in Kitimat, where it would then be liquefied before being exported. It’s part of a $40-billion project that was approved by the federal and provincial governments in October. Elected chiefs have given their support, but some hereditary chiefs have not.

Chief: ‘Where’s our Indigenous rights?’

One of those hereditary chiefs, John Ridsdale, told CTV News Channel on Tuesday that he is opposed to the project on his traditional territory because it his “responsibility to look after the land.”
“We need clean water, clean air, clean land,” he said.

“This is how we teach our children for the future to look after this,” he added.

Ridsdale said that the chiefs are “hurt” by actions of Coastal GasLink, and he accused the RCMP of being “puppets (of) industry and a government that won’t stand up for Indigenous rights.”

Ridsdale said that a 72-year-old woman was among those arrested. She was released but the 13 other people arrested were taken to Prince George, he said.

“We didn’t expect such an extreme action,” he added. “We did expect some to show up but the forces that they used, the amazing numbers that they used, the tactics that they used, were actually something we did not expect as peaceful people.”

The chief thanked the hundreds of people who showed up at rallies to ask Canada to demand that the RCMP cease enforcing the court order.

“Where’s our human rights? Where’s our Indigenous rights?” he said. “They always talk about reconciliation,” he went on. “If yesterday was any form of what reconciliation looks like in the governments’ eyes, I don’t want any part of it.”

Bellegarde: ‘Honour the rights and title’

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde also criticized the enforcement action, saying in a written statement that “reconciliation will not be achieved through force.”

“Real consensus will be built when the parties, with very different views, come together in a meaningful and productive dialogue,” his statement goes on.

“If this was really about the 'rule of law' then governments would be honouring the rights and title of First Nations in their traditional territories, which are recognized by Canada's own courts,” Bellegarde added.

One of Tuesday’s largest protests began on Parliament Hill and proceeded through downtown Ottawa. A meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a number of First Nations negotiators unrelated to the protest was delayed after demonstrators pushed their way into the building.

In Toronto, hundreds of protesters rallied in front of city hall before marching through the streets blocking traffic. Some held banners with skulls drawn on them and the words “no pipelines.”

In Vancouver, police were forced to shut down roads as hundreds marched through the city’s downtown chanting, drumming and carrying placards.

There were also rallies in support of the Indigenous blockaders in Edmonton, Montreal, Prince George, B.C., and North Bay, Ont.

One man at the North Bay protest told CTV Northern Ontario demonstrators want “peace and dialogue” and want politicians to demand that the RCMP “not move in and forcibly remove sovereign people from their own land.”

Protests in support of oil and gas

Meanwhile, a different kind of protest was held in Regina, where oil and gas industry workers who are facing the prospect of layoffs want to see more pipelines proceed.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe attended the rally, which he said was about defending the “quality of life” that Canadians enjoy thanks to natural resources development.

“You are here today because you care about our resource sector, you care about our province and you care about our nation,” Moe told the cheering crowd.

The Regina rally was organized by Canada Action, a group that has now held dozens of rallies in support of pipelines. Canada Action argues that the Coastal GasLink pipeline will help to reduce carbon emissions by allowing developing Asian countries to transition power production from coal to cleaner natural gas.

In Calgary, members of Canada Action showed up to counter a protest in support of the blockade. They shouted “build that pipe, build that pipe” and demanded the Trudeau government scrap Bill C-69, which they say would make pipeline approvals more difficult.

Sean Alexander was one of them. “People in Calgary, people in the energy sector ... are tired of sitting back and listening to this small minority get a voice over ours,” he told CTV Calgary.

The ministers in charge of Indigenous affairs both turned down a request from CTV Power Play to offer their views on the RCMP’s enforcement.

Cullen: ‘Time for Trudeau to engage’

NDP MP Nathan Cullen, who represents the northern B.C. riding of Skeena—Bulkley Valley, told Power Play that he tried to visit protesters on Monday but was blocked by RCMP.

“We have a clash here between the traditional Indigenous government which has existed for thousands of years and the laws and the governance in Canada,” Cullen said. “Mr. Trudeau has promised to recognize those two things. That’s what reconciliation means, I think,” he added.

Cullen said that aboriginal “rights and title” must be recognized in this case and that the federal government needs to “get involved in a meaningful way.”

“The prime minister was skiing in B.C. last week in Whistler. He’s going to be here tomorrow, we believe, in Kamloops,” Cullen added. “It’s time for him to engage.”

The 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline would supply natural gas for the LNG Canada project, which is a joint venture between Shell, PETRONAS, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation and KOGAS.

READ MORE: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/demonstrations-block-traffic-in-support-of-indigenous-pipeline-protesters-in-b-c-1.4244872

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Feds’ sweeping environment bill to take centre stage in Senate, and beyond, as Parliament returns

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Feds’ sweeping environment bill to take centre stage in Senate, and beyond, as Parliament returns

Demonstrations block traffic in support of Indigenous pipeline protesters in B.C.

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STAY INFORMED
on the state of
science & fisheries
in Canada