Bill C-69 an improvement

Re: The worst possible time to blow up the regulators, FP Comment, Ron Wallace and Rowland Harrison, Sept. 12

If pipeline proponents think gutting Bill C-69 and preventing the federal government’s reform of Canada’s environmental laws and project review process will help get Kinder Morgan and other pipelines built, they are mistaken.

While far from perfect, Bill C-69 is a notable improvement over the 2012 legislation that gutted environmental protections, undermined public trust in government decision-making on pipeline projects, and inevitably led to the undoing of the Trans Mountain Expansion approval. The culmination of over two years of significant government efforts and consultations with industry, environmental groups, Indigenous peoples and communities from coast to coast, Bill C-69 clearly takes into account both environmental protection and economic development. The legislation is a credible attempt to fix Canada’s environmental laws and restore public trust in the project review process.

Contrary to oil and gas fearmongering about Bill C-69, it generally enjoys the support of the mining, electricity, hydropower, and prospectors’ and developers’ industry associations, not to mention major environmental groups. Enough with the fearmongering from the oil and gas industry about competitiveness and regulatory certainty. If Canada wants to shed the baggage of years of defective decisionmaking on pipelines and ensure good projects get built, the Senate should fine-tune and pass Bill C-69.

Patrick DeRochie, Climate & Energy Program Manager, Environmental Defence (Toronto)