Canada is scrapping the National Energy Board…almost?
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- Published on Thursday, 25 May 2017 17:15
- Written by editor
Stop the pipelines before they start!
Dear Paov,
Months ago, I gave a presentation to the panel in charge of reforming the broken National Energy Board.
I was crystal clear. If this process does not restore the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s authority over pipeline reviews, it will have failed.
That was our bar. They came up short.
Their report from those meetings recommends creating a new Canadian Energy Transmission Commission that will have equal status with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency in pipeline reviews.
We cannot accept perceived economic priorities trumping ecological or cultural imperatives. Building a pipeline through endangered killer whale habitat or sacred Indigenous burial grounds is wrong, whether there’s a market for the oil or not.
At the same time, regulatory agencies should never be given final decision-making authority. This must be restored to the federal cabinet.
The federal government is accepting comments on the panel’s recommendations until June 14, 2017. Please use their comment form to submit your feedback.
Write today!Points to consider when writing your comments:
- I believe the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency should be fully in charge of the review process. I strongly condemn the recommendation to give the newly-created Canadian Energy Transmission Commission an equal role.
- I support the recommendation for Indigenous engagement. Indigenous communities should be guiding the process at the very beginning of the project, and have the ability to withhold or grant their consent at the outset, similar to the Minister of Natural Resources.
- I support the recommendation to increase public transparency and participation within the process at all levels. Regulatory processes should be as accessible as possible and decisions must be justified to the public.
- I strongly disagree with giving the regulator ultimate decision-making authority over the review. Cabinet must make the final decision on whether or not a project should proceed as they are representatives of and accountable to the public.
- Finally, I find it perplexing that while the federal government is proposing to reform the National Energy Board and create a Canadian climate and energy strategy – they have also recently approved Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline and are planning to approve others. All oil pipeline projects must be stopped now for the process to have any credibility.
There’s still time to restore proper environmental assessments of pipelines, but we need to show the government we won’t accept anything less. Please write in today.
For the climate,Peter McCartney | Climate Campaigner
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