KENNEY THREATENS LEGAL ACTION ON BILL C-69
Premier Jason Kenney slammed federal legislation in Ottawa Thursday, telling a Senate committee Bill C-69 attacks Alberta's economy and would further strangle the energy industry.
“We are not simply here to say this bill needs amendment,” he told the Senate's standing committee on energy, the environment and natural resources. “It is unacceptable.”
That bill, dubbed the Impact Assessment Act, would overhaul Canada's energy regulatory process, changing the rules for project approvals and replacing the National Energy Board with a new Canadian energy regulator.
“No longer will the people of Alberta quietly accept policies such as this which constitute a direct attack on our vital economic interests,” Kenney said, flanked by Energy Minister Sonya Savage.
But Kenney also endorsed amendments to the bill submitted by Alberta under former Premier Rachel Notley, who spoke to the committee in February. He also said the province endorsed amendments from organizations including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
He said the amendments are necessary to prevent “an even deeper crisis in investor confidence.
“If this committee proceeds with this bill, I ask that it be substantially re-written,” he said.
Kenney argued the bill doesn't strike a balance between environmental protection and economic development, and has “more than earned the name the ‘no more pipelines act.'”
He also reiterated a promise to launch a constitutional challenge of the bill on the basis of what projects fall under provincial jurisdiction.
When asked about the approval process for energy projects, Savage said the bill gives the federal government opportunities for “political interference.”
“You just cannot reconcile that process ... with an independent arm's-length process,” she said.
Bill C-69 also raises questions about Alberta's oilsands emissions cap, which has been the subject of political debate in Alberta while Kenney plans to roll back aspects of the NDP's flagship Climate Leadership Plan.
Notley had vowed to limit emissions to 100 megatonnes per year, though Alberta's oilsands are nowhere near the target.
The province seems poised to keep the cap in place.
Kenney said Wednesday that his platform didn't address the emissions cap, but that line backpedalled on information from UCP officials, who told reporters during a March 30 technical briefing that it would be nixed.
On Wednesday, federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna added steam-driven oilsands facilities to the list of projects that are subject to federal environmental reviews under Bill C-69. But Ottawa said it would exempt those same projects on the condition that Alberta maintains certain environmental policies (currently in-situ projects are subject to provincial rules under the Alberta Energy Regulator.)
Around 80 per cent of Alberta's oil industry comprises in-situ projects. In-situ sites extract bitumen too deep to be mined, generally by using steam.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi told Postmedia in April that his government had assured Rachel Notley that in-situ sites would not be subject to C-69 — and therefore federal regulations — as long as the emissions cap was in place.
NATIONWIDE CONSULTATIONS
The Senate committee examining Bill C-69 travelled to Calgary in April for hearings. At the time, Kenney, then campaigning for premier, addressed a crowd of about 250 people at a pro-pipeline rally in front of the Sheraton Hotel where the hearing was held.
He called the bill “a federal sucker punch to an already reeling Alberta economy.”
Notley said the bill in its current form oversteps provincial jurisdiction, but said there was a “clear path forward” to make amendments that would work for Alberta.
“C-69 needs to be amended to provide certainty and clarity to investors,” she told reporters after the April hearing, adding she hoped senators left Alberta understanding that the entire country needs the oil industry to do well.
Kenney underscored Thursday that opposition to the bill in Alberta reaches across the political spectrum.
Alberta slams federal legislation But Bill C-69 isn't the only battle Alberta is waging with Ottawa.
Earlier this week, Kenney spoke to a Senate committee in Edmonton examining the controversial federal Oil Tanker Moratorium Act.
He said that bill is a grave threat to the Alberta economy, and the province will launch a constitutional challenge if it passes in its current form. He didn't argue for amendments.
“We do not agree with the bill, period,” he said Tuesday.
Bill C-48 bans oil tankers off most of Canada's West Coast and would apply to tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tonnes of crude or persistent oil products. Penalties could cost up to $5 million depending on the severity of a violation.
Notley also flat-out rejected the bill, telling the committee in April that it created a double standard for Alberta resources.
Bill C-48 is linked to the beleaguered Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, which is still up in the air and waiting on federal approval after numerous delays.
The legislation was packaged as giving B.C. more environmental protections while Alberta got approval for its crucial pipeline project.
With files from Emma Graney