Kent praises Tories for proposing to speed up environmental assessments

OTTAWA — Environment Minister Peter Kent is praising recommendations of Conservative MPs for overhauling Canada's environmental review process for major industrial development projects.

The Tories made the recommendations in a report released this week by a parliamentary committee following hearings on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. The report proposed changes to reduce the amount of reviews, combine evaluations in partnership with provinces, and revise existing laws that protect Canada's water and species at risk.

"I think it's fair to say that our legislative considerations in the months ahead will be informed by the recommendations of the committee," Kent told Postmedia News.

He acknowledged that opposition members have criticized the process of the review, which was finished after nine days of hearings, but suggested there were some areas of agreement among parties about ways to make environmental reviews more effective and timely.

Opposition parties have suggested the report is a prelude to the government's plans to gut environmental protection laws in Canada, after it has significantly reduced the budget of the main federal regulator, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.


New Democrat MP Fin Donnelly accused the government of planning to "attack the Fisheries Act," by creating loopholes around the law that prohibits contamination of any fish habitat.

"Eliminating habitat protection will set us back decades, making it easier to ram through big industrial projects, like the Enbridge pipeline, which we know will have a devastating impact on the environment," Donnelly said Wednesday in the House of Commons.

Fisheries and Oceans Minister Keith Ashfield said the existing policies go "well beyond what is required to protect fish and fish habitat.

"Last year in Saskatchewan, a long-running country jamboree was nearly cancelled after newly flooded fields were deemed fish habitat by fisheries officials," said Ashfield in response to Donnelly. "In Richelieu, the applications of rules blocked a farmer from draining his flooded field. We are looking at the policies, but there has been no decision made."

Kent also confirmed the federal government would review the Species At Risk Act, noting that it was "broadly known" that there were potential areas of improvement in the law that requires the government to monitor species and develop plans to protect them when they are at risk.

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza