Way down upon the Swan River?Mom remembers barges and steamboats on the Swan River
Way down upon the Swan River?Mom remembers barges and steamboats on the Swan River
Believe it or not, we don't have to here in most of Oakville, either.God's country, most of us don't even lock our doors here
OTTAWA — A pair of controversial environmental bills scaled their final hurdle in the Senate on Thursday, over the objections of critics who warn the two pieces of legislation will kneecap Canada's oil industry and fuel separatist sentiment in Alberta.
Senators passed Bill C-69, which overhauls the federal environmental assessment process for major construction projects, by a vote of 57-37.
They also approved — just barely — Bill C-48, legislation barring oil tankers from loading at ports on the northern coast of British Columbia. That bill passed on a vote of 49-46, only narrowly escaping defeat.
The two bills have together become a flashpoint between the Liberals and Conservatives over how Canada can protect the environment without driving investment away from the fossil-fuel sector.
C-69 imposes more requirements for consulting affected Indigenous communities, widens public participation in the review process and requires climate change to be considered when major national resource-exploitation and transportation projects are being evaluated. It applies to a wide range of projects including interprovincial pipelines, highways, mines and power links.
The Senate made more than 200 amendments to that bill earlier this month, but the government accepted only 99 of them, mostly to do with reducing ministerial discretion to intervene in the review process.
The two bills put to the test senators' policy of generally bowing to the will of the elected House of Commons when there is a dispute between the two parliamentary chambers about legislation.
Conservative Sen. Richard Neufeld called C-69 "one of the most toxic, polarizing and divisive bills" he's encountered in 10 years as a senator.
The pair were among a long list of bills the Senate pounded through late into the night Thursday as the chamber prepared to adjourn for the summer and the subsequent election.
The House of Commons called it quits earlier in the day on a sombre note, with MPs delivering condolences following the death of Conservative MP Mark Warawa.
But Canadians haven't heard the last about the pair of bills. They're both destined to be fodder for Liberals and Conservatives on the campaign trail to this fall's election.
Conservative Sen. David Tkachuk said the government has done resource-dependent communities in Alberta and Saskatchewan a "disservice" by rejecting the Senate's amendments to C-69.
"Mark my words," he warned, "these people will let them know exactly how they feel this October."
Bill C-48 imposes a moratorium on oil tankers north of Vancouver Island. The government accepted a Senate amendment requiring a mandatory review of the tanker ban in five years.
The Senate committee that reviewed the bill recommended in May the entire Senate vote down the bill in its entirety, but that didn't happen, leading Conservatives to accuse the Independent senators who make up a majority in the chamber of being Liberals in disguise.
Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald was one of a few from his caucus to make final pleas with his colleagues to not proceed with the bill.
He said it "will be devastating for the Alberta and Saskatchewan economies."
However, several Independent senators rose to speak in favour of the bill, including Yukon Independent Sen. Pat Duncan.
"I believe we should be doing it," said Duncan.
Ontario Sen. Donna Dasko, who was on the committee that studied the bill in the Senate, said she thinks "it is quite a good bill."
Conservative Sen. Dennis Patterson, a former premier of the Northwest Territories, said after the bill passed that it would "... not actually ban tankers from the Hecate Strait; it simply landlocks Alberta and Saskatchewan oil, and destroys the possibility of economic development in northern Indigenous communities."
Wrong!Note to conservative Sen Dennis Patterson, a former premier of the NWT:
Geography land locked Alberta and Saskatchewan oil millions of years ago.
American subterfuge in all of this wouldn't surprise me one bit. They have a long history of interfering with their neighbour's economic interests and they have the most to gain by preventing Canadian oil from travelling in any direction than south.Nope the US national security did by proclaiming 80% of our oil has to be available to them in the original NAFTA. Now that they unlocked more Oil we are not essential to them anymore, and only important to brokers to make money by buying and selling our Oil.
Premier Scott Moe addressed the North Saskatoon Business Association on Monday afternoon regarding the number of challenges facing the province, including the federal government's controversial Bill C-48 and Bill C-69.
Moe said Bill C-69, which changes how large projects are evaluated, could affect more industries than just energy. Industries like potash, for example, could feel its impact as any industry-specific decision being made by the province — like the expansion of, or creation of, a mine — could potentially be overridden by the new legislation.
“We've had $20 billion in investment in the potash mining industry over the course of the last decade,” he said. “To increase capacity but also to increase the quality and sustainability of the product.”
Bill C-69 was opposed by the majority of provincial premiers.
Moe explained its decisions like these by the federal government that could affect Canada’s unity.
READ MORE: Kenney says bills C-48, C-69 ‘prejudicial attack on Alberta’; bring referendum on equalization closer
“It affects our ability to share wealth with the rest of Canada and thereby affecting our ability as to move forward under the pretenses,” he said. “These types of pieces of legislation in Saskatchewan and in other areas of Canada, not just western Canada.”
The Premier has been vocal about his opposition of Bill C-48, the West Coast tanker ban and carbon tax as he said he wants to ensure Saskatchewan is successful in the next decade as it was in the last.
Yes you will be extremely busy explaining why the conservatives are not in charge.Canada will reopen for busy in:
117 days
2820 hours
169211 minutes
10152687 seconds
until Monday, October 21, 2019 (St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador time)
The federal government's contentious bill to set up a new authority to assess industrial projects like pipelines, mines and inter-provincial highways, was proclaimed into law on Wednesday and Alberta's UCP government responded swiftly.
"Under the constitution, Alberta has clear and sole jurisdiction over the development of our natural resources," read a joint statement issued by Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage and Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer. "We will be launching a constitutional challenge against this discriminatory piece of legislation that will only leave a legacy of irreversible impacts on Canadians."
Bill C-69, which deals with assessing industrial projects for their effects on public health, the environment and the economy, was passed by Canadian senators in June.
Earlier that month, the Senate passed 188 amendments to the bill, and the Liberal government accepted 99.
READ MORE: Senate passes Bill C-69, which overhauls review of major projects, like pipelines
In June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he believed the process for approving major projects needed to change.
Also watch: Saskatchewan premier concerned over Bill C-69 (Provided by Global News)
"Conservatives still seem to think that the way to get big projects built is to ignore Indigenous peoples and ignore environmental concerns," he said. "That didn't work for 10 years under Stephen Harper, and it's certainly not going to work now."
READ MORE: Conservative premiers' resistance to environment bills 'threaten national unity': Morneau
Savage and Schweitzer called the bill's proclamation on Wednesday an "unconstitutional attack on Alberta and our vital economic interests."
"It is baffling that a federal government would proclaim this act when nine out of 10 provinces are opposed to it in whole or in part," the statement read. "And if that weren't enough, Indigenous groups and trade unions are also on record as objecting to this discriminatory legislation. This is in addition to objections by industry associations and companies directly responsible for making real decisions about investing in Alberta and Canada.
"This is a dark day for Alberta and Canada as a whole."