Raging Grannies take on updating the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act

Inky Dinky Parlez-vous?

Raging Grannies sing the CEAA Blues from MiningWatch on Vimeo.

for more details: see the Canadian Environmental Network site... while it still exists!

http://rcen.ca/action-alerts/action-alert-canada-s-environmental-assessment-law-is-under-attack

for the full newsrelease; see below
Online, complete with Raging Grannies video, at:
http://rcen.ca/action-alerts/action-alert-canada-s-environmental-assessment-law-is-under-attack


Action Alert: Canada’s Environmental Assessment Law Is Under Attack

January, 2012

The Harper Government wants to gut the Canadian Environmental Assessment
Act.

Tell the Conservatives that Canada’s environment matters – and
environmental laws matter.

Tell Prime Minister Harper, Environment Minister Kent, and Natural
Resources Minister Oliver we won’t accept shoddy “streamlined” public
reviews and destructive megaprojects – even if they change the law to
allow them to proceed.

Background

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) is one of the most
important pieces of environmental legislation in Canada. It often
provides for more public participation and a more rigorous review than
provincial assessment legislation, and in many cases covers projects not
subject to provincial assessment at all. The Act has been in place since
1995.

CEAA was intended to promote sustainable development by forcing federal
authorities to make sure that an environmental assessment was done on
any projects they were required to authorise. It worked, but it did have
a number of problems that environmental groups, aboriginal
organisations, and government agencies have tried to resolve over the
years. Many of the problems have been resolved. For example,
harmonization agreements between federal and provincial governments
allow them to undertake joint reviews that meet both their requirements,
while reducing duplication and confusion for proponents and the public.

Other problems have never been resolved; for example, the Act is centred
on assessing the environmental impacts of physical projects, so
government policies, plans, and programs are not included – things like
fisheries policies, regional development plans, or plans for disposing
of high-level nuclear fuel waste. The review process also suffered
resistance from some government departments, such as Fisheries and
Oceans, that didn’t want to take responsibility for larger environmental
issues. MiningWatch Canada had to go all the way to the Supreme Court to
ensure that assessments could not be artificially defined to limit their
scope and avoid the Act’s public involvement requirements. And it
suffered periodic setbacks, especially when the Navigable Waters
Protection Act was amended in 2009 to exclude it from CEAA, and CEAA
itself amended in 2010 to exclude projects funded under the government’s
Economic Action Plan from environmental assessment.

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Caucus of the Canadian
Environment Network has continued working hard to engage the public and
develop thoughtful, evidence-based proposals for a better federal EA
process, and has produced a significant body of research and documentation.

CEAA Under Review

The Act includes a requirement for Parliament to review it by June 2010.
However, the government did no public preparation for the review and the
House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable
Development only started working on it in October, 2011. The Committee
held a scant five weeks of public hearings – nine sessions of less than
two hours each, with witnesses allowed all of ten minutes to make their
initial presentations, and only two days’ notice of the final deadline
for written submissions. The Committee has not yet published its report.

This is a stark contrast with the previous review of the Act, which
included extensive public consultations, government discussion papers,
and thorough public discussions in the Standing Committee.

Meanwhile, Stephen Harper, Peter Kent, and Joe Oliver have all made
public pronouncements about the environmental assessment process taking
too long, creating uncertainty for investors, and threatening economic
development. It is clear from their statements as well as from industry
talking points – and a leaked government document – that the government
is eager to reduce the scope and effectiveness of the federal
environmental assessment process if it can’t eliminate it altogether.
Small projects would be no longer be screened, and the assessment of
large projects will be “delegated” – no longer handled by the Canadian
Environmental Assessment Agency. Some are already handled (badly) by the
National Energy Board and the Nuclear Safety Commission, and this could
be extended to other federal and even provincial agencies, resulting in
an inconsistent patchwork of reviews, incomprehensible to the public –
and ineffective in protecting the public interest – the environment and
people’s livelihoods.

What You Can Do

Please write to Environment Minister Peter Kent to express your concerns
about the federal government’s intention to weaken federal environmental
assessment laws and undermine sustainable development in Canada. Send
copies to Prime Minister Harper, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver,
and the opposition parties’ environment critics, as well as your own
Member of Parliament. Engage your MP in discussion on this issue as most
of them know little about it and don’t realise its importance.

Most importantly, talk to your neighbours, friends, even strangers.
People have put a lot of hard work into trying to create and
environmental assessment process that protects the environment from
inappropriate development projects and gives the public a say in
development. We will not accept a review process that is “streamlined”
to limit public participation and ensure that potentially destructive
megaprojects proceed without serious consideration of their impacts –
and without those safeguards in place we will not accept the projects
themselves.

The following is a draft letter that you can send to Environment
Minister Peter Kent.
• If you can, personalize your message by adding information about your
own specific concerns. This could relate to a particular type of
development projects, a particular environmental assessment, or other
sustainable development issues.
• Make sure to send a copy to your own Member of Parliament.
• Below the letter, you will find a list of the relevant addresses,
phone/fax numbers, and e-mails.


Dear Minister Kent,

Don’t trash the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act! This law is
critical to understanding and mitigating the adverse environmental
effects of developments such as pipelines, tar sands projects, and
mines. Eliminating legal requirements and limiting public participation
in project reviews makes environmental disasters such as BP’s Deepwater
Horizon, Exxon Valdez, and Fukushima more likely. I know that you don’t
want catastrophes like these to happen in Canada.

That’s why I am urging you to work with Parliament to strengthen the
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to make it more effective,
efficient, and open to public participation.

Canadians want all development projects to be sustainable, and a
stronger environmental assessment law – not a weaker one – is key to
achieving that goal.

Thank you for considering my views.

Sincerely,

[your name here]

cc: The Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
The Hon. Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources
Megan Leslie, MP, NDP Environment Critic
Kirsty Duncan, MP, Liberal Environment Critic
Maria Mourani, MP, Bloc Québecois Environment Critic
Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party


To find your Member of Parliament, use the Parliamentary directory at
http://www.parl.gc.ca/SenatorsMembers.aspx?Language=E.

Mail may be sent postage-free to any Member of Parliament at the
following address:
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

The Honourable Peter Kent
Minister of the Environment
Tel. (613) 992-0253
Fax: (613) 992-0887
Peter.Kent@parl.gc.ca

The Right Hon. Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
Tel. (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900
Stephen.Harper@parl.gc.ca

The Honourable Joe Oliver
Minister of Natural Resources
Tel. (613) 992-6361
Fax: (613) 992-9791
Joe.Oliver@parl.gc.ca

Megan Leslie
Tel. (613) 995-7614
Fax: (613) 992-8569
Megan.Leslie@parl.gc.ca

Kirsty Duncan
Tel. (613) 995-4702
Fax: (613) 995-8359
Kirsty.Duncan@parl.gc.ca

Maria Mourani
Tel. (613) 992-0983
Fax: (613) 992-1932
Maria.Mourani@parl.gc.ca

Elizabeth May
Tel. (613) 996-1119
Fax: (613) 996-0850
Elizabeth.May@parl.gc.ca

--
Jamie Kneen, Communications & Outreach Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada
http://www.miningwatch.ca/