Bill C-69 will stop energy projects

Senator Marty Klyne (Why Bill C-69 a tale of duelling concerns, SP, Feb. 13) writes that the federal government’s proposed Bill-69 is about “getting oil to tidewater, developing our natural resources responsibly, and ensuring confidence in Canada’s energy industry.”

The exact opposite is true. Klyne quotes Dickens. I’ll quote Orwell: because to say that Bill C-69 is about streamlining project approvals and building investor confidence in future resource development is the very definition of “doublespeak.”

Under Bill C-69, the federal environment minister can unilaterally stop the clock on the approval of any major energy project, including a pipeline, at any time. New subjective processes — including the “intersection of sex, gender and identity factors” — will be introduced into environmental approvals. Standing tests, which currently involve consultations with those most impacted by a given project, will be eliminated.

How will this “reduce political interference,” as Klyne states, and increase the timely approval of future projects?

Federal Liberals say that Bill C-69 is needed because the current pipeline approval system is “broken.” However, it was the federal government that broke the Energy East and Northern Gateway projects. Meanwhile, under the existing system, the Transmountain project is being assessed, and the successful Enbridge Line 3 Replacement project (which involved thousands of consultations with First Nations and other communities) was approved.

At upcoming hearings, I will tell senators that Bill-69 will stop, not start, major energy projects and must be scrapped in its current form. Bronwyn Eyre, Saskatchewan Minister of Energy and Resources