Environmental groups criticize government walk-back on pollution impact assessment
By Simon Hopkins, The Canadian Press on May 2, 2024.
Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, answers questions on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, May 2, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean KilpatrickOTTAWA – Environmental groups are criticizing the Liberal government’s planned amendments to the federal Impact Assessment Act.
The groups said in a letter to cabinet ministers today that Ottawa isn’t fulfilling its responsibility to protect Canadians from pollution.
The government is seeking to limits the scope of the legislation and remove a requirement for federal assessments of projects that produce air pollution across provincial lines.
The changes are outlined in proposed legislation to implement this year’s federal budget.
They come in response to a Supreme Court ruling in October that said the act ventured too far into provincial jurisdiction.
The environmental groups say the changes went further than the Supreme Court required.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2024.
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