Minister wants Ottawa to ‘quit dithering’ on Bill C-69
The federal government needs to “quit dithering ” over a bill that will overhaul Canada’s energy regulatory processes, Alberta’s environment minister says.
Environment Minister Shannon Phillips was in Ottawa Wednesday to meet with senators over the future of Bill C-69, dubbed the Impact Assessment Act.
Although the province supports the intent of the bill, Phillips is adamant it would, in its current form, hurt both the Alberta and the Canadian economies. She’s confident senators will see her side and amend the bill as it makes its way through the Upper House, saying Alberta’s case has a “broad coalition of support” in Ottawa.
Bill C-69 would change the rules for project approvals and replace the National Energy Board with a new Canadian energy regulator. The Alberta government argues it would also overstep provincial jurisdiction, and it doesn’t like the fact the legislation would factor downstream emissions into pipeline approvals.
Phillips wants the bill changed on a number of fronts, and on Wednesday made Alberta’s case to around 50 senators and others on Parliament Hill.
“There is no question that we can improve this bill, and we should. It’s too important to get wrong,” Phillips told media after her meetings.
The bill passed in the House of Commons in June and is now before the Senate.
Phillips outlined three major C-69 changes the province wants to see. First up, making sure that projects that merit going ahead do, in fact, go ahead. That means appropriate timelines with ministerial discretion “appropriately fettered,” she said.
Phillips also wants the federal government to be more transparent about what projects would be covered under the changes. That list, she said, is “well overdue.”
“We have been given assurances it will be published, and so my call on the federal government today is to quit dithering and do it now,” she said.
Third, Phillips asked for in-situ oilsands projects to be exempt from the act because they’re already regulated provincially.
“At the end of the day, this is about the confidence of Canadians, but it’s also about building Canada,” she said.
Basically, Phillips wants certainty for investors and industry.
“We think we can get there with C-69 as long as the changes are made,” she said.
“We will spend as much time in Ottawa as we need to to accomplish that goal. We will use whatever tools we can and work with anybody who will work with us.”