Is Peter Kent’s trail of destruction finally coming to an end?

Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent recently let the cat out of the bag on Facebook that he expects to be demoted in the upcoming cabinet shuffle. After two and a half years of acting more as a facilitator for eliminating environmental protections than as a steward for our air and water, Kent may want to also change his status byline to “Canada’s Worst Environment Minister Ever.”

Objectively, I believe Mr. Kent can lay claim to this title. It’s a tribute to his dedication that no one else even comes close.

Since the advent of Canada’s first federal Environment Minister in 1971, there have been many bumps-on-a-log, do-nothings, and disappointments. Many governments of the past have ignored the nation’s environmental protection needs, resulting in years of stalled progress. But only Mr. Kent has stepped up to the plate, Orwell-style, to re-make the Ministry of the Environment into a green rubber stamp for destructive, ill-considered, industrial behaviour, all while glibly blaming “foreign interests” for meddling with Canada’s overwhelmingly foreign-owned oil and gas sector. Only Mr. Kent has actually spearheaded the wholesale abolition of key elements of Canada’s already threadbare federal environmental protection architecture.

Given his Lex Luthor-like commitment to maximizing destruction, it’s a bit difficult to settle on a top-five list of Mr. Kent’s “greatest hits,” but let’s give it a go.

1. Turning the environmental assessment process into a sideshow . In the new Kent-endorsed regime, the pipeline has to basically run through your house if you want to be heard during a federal environmental assessment hearing, and it has to carry enough oil to fill multiple super tankers in a single day to qualify for federal scrutiny in the first place.

2. Walking away from the Kyoto climate change agreement . It wouldn’t matter if Peter Kent’s own riding was six feet under water – the idea that climate change is anything to worry about just never registered with the man charged with protecting our atmosphere. Kent robustly defended the dubious precedent of Canada being the only government on the planet to sign, and then walk away from, this ratified international treaty.

3. Giving the hook to the Federal Fisheries Act and Navigable Waters Protection Act . Just like his Environmental Assessment Act changes, this move was all about making these laws as narrowly applicable as possible to avoid any uncomfortable scrutiny of resource projects. Kent’s enthusiasm for “streamlining” such regulations drained away critical protections for our lakes and rivers.

4. Telling the National Round Table of the Environment and Economy (NRTEE) where it could take its advice . This stellar non-partisan body (created by the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney) had the gall to point out that a) inaction on climate change was going to cost Canada billions and b) that current government efforts were inadequate to reach even the feds’ own watered-down greenhouse gas reduction targets. Suddenly, the NRTEE wasn’t needed anymore. Before you could say “sustainable development” Mr. Kent killed it dead, and went so far as to prohibit the release of its important research into the public domain.

5. Deny, deny, deny that the tar sands have any more environmental impact than your dog . Peter Kent was great at spinning a story about “world class” environmental standards for tar sands development. However, on closer scrutiny, no one was actually watching the store. Kent scrambled to paper over this gaping hole with a new agreement with Alberta to institute proper monitoring of air, water and soil contamination, 40 years after tar sands development began in earnest. Then he reluctantly asked industry to pay for it, bringing into question once again the credibility of the results.

At the end of the day, Mr. Kent was simply the messenger for a government that is convinced, deep in its bones, that – contrary to any evidence and common sense – environmental protection and economic growth are incompatible. It’s true that around any Cabinet table, the job of Environment Minister can be a thankless one. You’re the guy who has to say “we need to take a closer look” and “we need to think about future generations.” But these kinds of concerns clearly didn’t keep Peter Kent up at night as he embraced his role with gusto. He was too busy accusing his many critics of “laundering funds” or of “eco-vandalism.”

If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry. But then again, Peter Kent was always more concerned with the next sound bite than sound policy.

Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Rick Smith