Saskatchewan Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre spoke to the Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources on Thursday to express the province’s opposition to Bill C-69.
Bill C-69 proposes changes to the way environmental assessments on large natural resources projects are handled, which includes pipelines and mining. The bill was referred to the committee after its second reading in the Senate on Dec. 12, 2018.
“Bill C-69 will stop, not start, major energy projects and must be scrapped in its current form,” Eyre said in a written release. “Our government believes this new approach to environmental assessments would create significant uncertainty and lead to continued capital flight from our resource sectors. Bill C-69 disregards provincial jurisdiction and fails to recognize the proven track record and expertise of provincial regulators.”
The province says its main concerns are unpredictable and unreasonable timelines, subjective criteria, jurisdictional overreach and removing the current standing test. Eliminating the standing test would allow any organization or individual to participate in a major project like a mine or a pipeline, the province says. Saskatchewan is concerned this would increase the cost and timeline for environmental approval.
In August, Saskatchewan and Ontario did not sign the final communique at the Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference in Iqaluit. The province says it cited Bill C-69 as a threat to competitiveness in the country’s energy sector.
With files from The Canadian Press
