A former Conservative minister chastised the federal government on Wednesday, saying new mechanisms in the pipeline review process will leave decision-making to Liberals rather than “scientists and by evidence.”
Bergen served in the cabinet of Stephen Harper, who was condemned by domestic and international scientists for muzzling civil servants and slashing funding.
Bergen, however, failed to acknowledge how the former government made amendments to the country’s laws that made environmental assessments no longer a mandatory requirement with project proposals under review.
The changes, introduced in Bill C-38, became law in 2012.
But Bergen isn’t the first Conservative this week to attempt to reuse, recycle, and redirect the “war on science” argument against the current Liberal government.
On Monday, interim party leader Rona Ambrose accused the Liberals of abandoning science, specifically in acknowledging advancements made to pipeline safety technologies.
Ambrose urged Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre to consider a “science-based” perspective in his "unfortunate" opposition against the proposed Energy East pipeline.
The previous Conservative government faced years of public scrutiny and backlash for its role in “a rapid decline in freedoms and funding” of federal scientists.
On Thursday, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said scientific evidence will be an important part of the assessment process for new natural resource projects — but political and economic issues will also be taken into consideration.
Carr, who joined McKenna at a news conference, said: “The government of Canada is free to establish its own review and its own criteria for those reviews in whatever context it chooses,” adding it’s ultimately up to the cabinet to decide whether or not a project meets the natural interest of all Canadians.
