How Two Premiers Shaped the Oilsands
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- Published on Saturday, 17 June 2017 14:30
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Special Committee Says Canadians Should Have Legal Right to Healthy Environment... Like the Rest of the Developed World
When it comes to developed nations Canada is a laggard on the environmental rights front. Legally speaking, Canadians don’t enjoy the right to a healthy environment like the citizens of 93 per cent of UN member countries do.
But that could all change in light of a new set of recommendations delivered to Ottawa by a standing committee tasked with reviewing the federal Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
Among those recommendations were instituting legal minimums for air and water quality standards, annual reporting on the state of Canada’s environment, new rules around disclosure of toxic substances in consumer goods and the creation of special protections for Canada’s vulnerable populations including children, the elderly, First Nations and poor communities most likely to be affected by poor environmental health. Read more.
First Nations Chief Hopeful For Stop to Site C, More Balanced Approach to Resource Extraction
Roland Willson is a practical man. As chief of the West Moberly First Nation in northeastern B.C., he’s got to be.
“The natural gas industry is the main source of employment,” Willson said over coffee in Victoria this week, before heading into meetings with the B.C. NDP and B.C. Green parties. “It’s a natural resource economy up there.”
Of all the industrial activity happening on his traditional territory — ranging from fracking to forestry to coal mining — one development takes the cake: the Site C dam.
With B.C.’s new NDP-Green alliance, and its promise to send the $9 billion Site C for an independent review by the B.C.Utilities Commission (BCUC), there’s reason for Willson to be hopeful. Read more.
Q&A: How the Legacies of Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein Hang Over the Oilsands
Alberta is a province renown for its political dynasties.
Since its founding in 1905, only five parties have ruled, with the Progressive Conservatives reigning for a staggering 44 years between 1971 and 2015.
But when it comes to oilsands policy, the province’s compass has been set by two premiers: Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein. Both took distinct approaches, with Lougheed emphasizing managed development assisted by public funding, while Klein allowed industry to largely set the terms of engagement (including far lower royalties and the fast tracking of environmental reviews). Read more.
Justin Trudeau May Look Pretty in a Kayak, But He’s No Climate Saint
Last week Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau managed to capture international headlines for a kayak outing on the Niagara River in Ontario.
How, you may ask? Well Trudeau paddled up to a family’s dock and had a brief conversation with them about water levels. According to Elle Magazine, he looked “picture perfect” while doing it. It all very quickly became a Twitter sensation.
Trudeau’s photogenic boat trip coincided with World Environment Day and in a speech afterward, the prime minister vowed to continue to fight climate change.
The American press, still bewildered by their president’s widely criticized decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, went wild. But as Trudeau laps up the praise that comes with not being Donald Trump, he’s also been busy approving major new fossil fuel infrastructure at home in Canada. Read more.
Suppressed Science Report Questioned Location of Pacific Northwest LNG Plant
Opponents of a massive liquefied natural gas project proposed for the north coast of B.C. have dug up a scientific report that band members were never shown.
In January of this year the Lax Kw’alaams Band signed an impact benefit agreement worth approximately $1 billion over 40 years in exchange for support for the $36 billion Pacific Northwest LNG project. But documents filed in federal court last month show the band council suppressed scientific research it had commissioned when the research report did not support the band’s position on the project. Members of the Gitwilgyoots Tribe, who filed the documents, are also arguing the band has no authority to approve the project.
“I don’t believe that they’re very ethical with the way that they’re doing things,” Murray Smith, a spokesperson for the Gitwilgyoots, tells me. “Why won’t [they] show us [the report]? Because it would work against them.” Read more.
Ken and Arlene Boon face imminent eviction from their family farm to make way for a highway relocation as part of the ongoing construction of the Site C dam. Recently NDP Leader John Horgan asked B.C. Hydro to put a pause on evicting families like the Boons while the political situation in B.C. stabilizes and the dam is sent for review with the B.C. Utilities Commission. Upon request from the farmers' lawyer, B.C. Hydro extended the Boons' stay to the end of June.
"One should never assume it’s too late, especially at this stage, to stop this project," Ken Boon told DeSmog Canada. r34
