Mixed messages on green reform, files show
Feds gave different line to different parties
OTTAWA — Environment Canada recommended one set of messages for First Nations groups and another for industry stakeholders a few months before the Harper government adopted sweeping changes to Canada’s environmental laws in 2012, says newly-released internal briefing notes obtained by Postmedia News.
The reforms, which reduced federal oversight on industrial development and weakened some environmental legislation, including laws protecting water and species at risk, have prompted a national protest movement in recent weeks that adopted the Idle No More slogan to defend the rights of Aboriginal Canadians.
One of the documents, prepared for a government summit with First Nations groups in January 2012, suggested that Environment Minister Peter Kent give representatives from the Assembly of First Nations a vague message regarding the reforms, prior to their introduction in Parliament.
“Any changes to the government’s environmental assessment or project approvals regime that you may have heard of through the media are … speculative at this point as legislation has not been introduced in the House of Commons (and) will respect our duties toward Aboriginal peoples,” said a proposed message for Kent to deliver at the Jan 24, 2012 meeting with Aboriginal leaders, held in Ottawa.
A few days later, Environment Canada recommended that Kent’s parliamentary secretary, Calg ary-area Conservative MP Michelle Rempel, give a different message to Alberta-based oilsands company, CNRL.
“Resources development is certainly among the major industrial sectors that are top-of-mind as we consider the modernization of our regulatory system,” Rempel was asked to say during the Feb. 2, 2012 meeting with Bill Clapperton, vice-president of stakeholder and environmental affairs with CNRL, according to the records.
“The reforms, when introduced, may be very contro- versial. I hope we can count on your support.”
Environment Canada recommended that Kent deliver a similar business-friendly message to a pipeline industry lobby group on Jan. 26, 2012, two days after the meeting with the Assembly of First Nations, Canada’s largest national Aboriginal organization.
It was not immediately clear whether the Conservative politicians delivered the recommended messages in their respective meetings. But Kent has previously said that the reforms are improving environmental protection in Canada by focusing on the greatest risks, and that the public will eventually recognize these improvements in the future.
Postmedia News asked Environment Canada several times since last Tuesday to explain the conflicting messages from the documents, released through access to information legislation, but a spokesman said it needed to consult with other departments before providing a response.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver publicly announced the reforms in April 2012, prompting the AFN’s national chief, Shawn Atleo to respond with a warning that the federal proposal would undermine the government’s constitutional “duty to consult” with First Nations. Atleo also said the reforms could lead to “unlaw- ful” and “unconstitutional” decisions that would violate the rights of First Nations, posing threats to clean drinking water, fish habitat and environmental health in Aboriginal communities.
“Thirty years after the Constitution recognized and affirmed Aboriginal and Treaty rights, it is an alarming development that Canada would take such steps that will potentially further undermine processes that already do not adequately address clear duties for consultation and accommodation and the clear principle set out in the United Nations Declaration for free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples,” wrote Atleo in an April 20, 2012 letter to Oliver.
Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a Lubicon Cree from Northern Alberta who campaigns for Greenpeace Canada, said the internal federal documents show a “complete disrespect” for First Nations communities and their leadership.