Environmental assessments are supposed to guard against pollution, but changes to key pieces of legislation have crippled the process. To fix it, the Liberal government has to pull up the floorboards and retool several laws — a months-long endeavour that only began recently, with public consultations on how to restore trust in environmental assessments.
“Our natural heritage is hugely important to Canadians,” says Karen Campbell, an environmental lawyer at the non-profit Ecojustice. “With Canada’s 150th anniversary coming up, we need to think how we are going to maintain that heritage for the next 150 years and beyond.”
Until 2012, any project involving federal lands, permits, money, or jurisdiction required an assessment by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA). This is no longer the case. Now, only major projects such as mines and quarries face this scrutiny. Canada’s Commissioner for the Environment and Sustainable Development concluded in 2014 that the rationale for determining what kind of developments required assessments under the new Act was “unclear.”
Derek Leahy – TVO – December 9, 2016.
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