Pull environment from budget bill: Opposition and activists

The federal Conservatives are being targeted by the Official Opposition as well as environment groups gunning for changes to legislation in the government's omnibus budget bill now before Parliament.

A range of groups, including the David Suzuki Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, launched an ad campaign Monday called "Black Out, Speak Out" that urges Canadians to darken their websites June 4.

A full-page newspaper ad with a black background published Monday reads: "The future of our land, water and climate are at risk . . . and so are the voices of Canadians."

"Silence is not an option."

Activists claim the Tories have declared "war on democracy and the environment" accusing the government of weakening the country's environmental safeguards.

The Tories have limited debate on their budget bill -- known as invoking closure -- and included new provisions to speed up the environmental review process for major projects.

The closure motion limits debate on the omnibus bill to about one week.

The legislation includes amendments to about 60 laws, eliminates at least six others and rewrites the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

"The number of measures that are going to fundamentally change how Canada works, and doesn't work in fact, are all in this budget bill," said New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen last week.

"It's an abuse of their power. It's an abuse of this mechanism. And the government knows it."

Green party Leader Elizabeth May has called the bill "20 pages of omnibus abuse of parliamentary process" and asked Primer Minster Stephen Harper to "separate out bills that matter to the environment."

The Conservatives argue that far-ranging bills of this nature are not new and that they're allowing more debate that the Liberals did on any of their budget bills.

They also say they are devoting more time to debate at second reading than ever before on a budget implementation bill.

"We think that's a good thing because we think the priority for Canadians is the economy," House Leader Peter Van Loan said Thursday after the closure vote passed.

But environment groups are prepared to tackle the government on the bill along with opposition parties.

The measures in the bill have been "shoehorned" into the budget bill in order to prevent debate, said Rick Smith, executive director for Environmental Defence, a group aligned with the Black Out campaign.

The changes will limit Canadians' ability to engage in the public policy process, he said.

"We're very concerned that the federal government is conducting, essentially, a war on nature and democracy," Smith said.

Under the new federal plan, the government would have 45 days to decide if an assessment is needed for major economic projects. Any review would take a maximum of two years.

Ottawa would also recognize provincial assessments if they meet federal standards, as well as cut the number of agencies responsible for reviews to three, down from about 40.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said the new rules will prevent long delays in project approvals that threaten job-creation and hamper the economy.

The activist groups are also concerned about a crackdown on charities that they say aims to silence them.

One university law professor called the legislation a "serious attack" on environmental law.

Stephen Hazell told CTV's Power Play last week the changes could result in fewer environmental assessments.

"We may not have any environmental assessments at all at the end of the day coming out of this whole process," the University of Ottawa professor and environmental lawyer said.

Original Article
Source: CTV
Author: CTVNews.ca Staff