• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
Biden Approves $8B Oil Extraction Plan in Ecologically Sensitive Alaska March 14, 2023
U.S. Solar Developers Scramble after Silicon Valley Bank Collapse March 14, 2023
$30.9B Price Tag Makes Trans Mountain Pipeline a ‘Catastrophic Boondoggle’ March 14, 2023
UN Buys Tanker, But Funding Gap Could Scuttle Plan to Salvage Oil from ‘Floating Time Bomb’ March 9, 2023
Biden Cuts Fossil Subsidies, But Oil and Gas Still Lines Up for Billions March 9, 2023
Next
Prev

Ottawa to Appeal After Alberta’s Top Court Rules Against Impact Assessment Act

May 11, 2022
Reading time: 3 minutes
Full Story: The Canadian Press @CdnPressNews with file from The Energy Mix
Primary Author: Colette Derowiz

EcoFlight

EcoFlight

11
SHARES
 

Alberta’s top court said Tuesday the federal government’s environmental impact law is unconstitutional, and Ottawa almost immediately announced its plan to appeal.

The Alberta Court of Appeal called the Impact Assessment Act is an “existential threat” to the division of powers guaranteed by the Constitution, The Canadian Press reports.

  • The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
  • You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
  • The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
Subscribe

In the House of Commons later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the law delivered on a promise to reform a “broken system and restore public trust in how decisions about major projects are made,” adding that “we will be appealing this decision.”

The Alberta government, calling it a Trojan Horse, had challenged the law over what the province argued was an overreach into provincial powers.

The act, given royal assent in 2019, lists activities that trigger an impact review and allows Ottawa to consider the effects of new resource projects on a range of environmental and social issues, including climate change. Alberta argued the law could use those concerns to greatly expand the range of federal oversight into areas of provincial jurisdiction.

A majority of five justices, giving their legal opinion in a 204-page document released Tuesday, sided with Alberta.

“Climate change constitutes an existential threat to Canada,” Chief Justice Catherine Fraser and two others wrote.

But “the (Impact Assessment Act) involves another existential threat—one also pressing and consequential—and that is the clear and present danger this legislative scheme presents to the division of powers guaranteed by our Constitution and, thus, to Canada itself.”

The opinion added that legitimate concerns about the environment and climate change should not override the division of power. “If the federal government believes otherwise, it should make the case for an increase in its jurisdiction to the Canadian public.”

A fourth judge signed off on that opinion with the exception of one section.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sheila Greckol said the federal environmental impact law is a valid exercise of constitutional authority.

“The federal environmental assessment regime prohibits projects that may have effects in federal jurisdiction—on fish and fish habitat, aquatic species, migratory birds, on federal lands or federally funded projects, between provinces, outside Canada, and with respect to Indigenous peoples,” she wrote.

“The complexities and the urgency of the climate crisis call for co-operative interlocking environmental protection regimes among multiple jurisdictions, each functioning at its highest and best within their constitutional jurisdiction.”

Now is not the time to “give credence to any kind of ‘Trojan Horse’ metaphor advanced by Alberta and Saskatchewan,” Greckol wrote. “Likening Canada to a foreign invading army deceptively breaching our protective walls only fuels suspicion and pits one level of government against each other.”

There were 17 interveners in the case, CP says.

Alberta was supported in its challenge by the governments of Saskatchewan and Ontario, as well as three First Nations and the Indian Resource Council.

Seven of the interveners, including a wide array of environmental and legal groups as well as other First Nations, were in support of Ottawa.

“People across Canada—including in Alberta—deserve a robust environmental planning process that safeguards the long-term health of our communities while allowing good projects to be built,” Julia Levin, national climate program manager at Environmental Defence Canada, said in a release Tuesday.

“Provincial governments should be cooperating with the federal government to protect the environment and tackle the climate crisis, not making it easier for resource extraction companies to decimate the land, air, and water by attacking federal laws.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2022.



in Biodiversity & Habitat, Canada, Energy Politics, Environmental Justice, First Peoples, Health & Safety, Legal & Regulatory, Oil & Gas, Sub-National Governments, Tar Sands / Oil Sands, Water

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

U.S. Bureau of Land Management/flickr
Oil & Gas

Biden Approves $8B Oil Extraction Plan in Ecologically Sensitive Alaska

March 14, 2023
67
David Dodge, Green Energy Futures/flickr
Community Climate Finance

U.S. Solar Developers Scramble after Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

March 14, 2023
97
EcoAnalytics
Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion

Canadians Want Strong Emissions Cap Regulations, Not More Missed Targets

March 14, 2023
72

Comments 2

  1. Dave Murray says:
    10 months ago

    That is a a disingenuous photo to use to describe this article. It is an aerial photo of US well sites taken in 2006. It is not representative of Canadian drilling, nor of current extraction techniques. You are simply trying to use the photo to throw raw-meat on this issue.

    Reply
    • Mitchell Beer says:
      10 months ago

      Seriously. A watered down, only episodically effective impact assessment act is hyperbolically described as a “Trojan Horse” threatening Canadian democracy, and we’re the ones throwing raw meat?

      TBH, we hadn’t realized the photo was from Wyoming until you pointed that out, so many thanks for the heads-up. But fracking is still very much a live issue for impact assessment, and we can expect that it will be for longer than some other forms of fossil fuel production that will likely die out faster. If you know of any equivalent public domain photos from the fracking fields in northeastern British Columbia, for example, we’ll be happy to drop them in as a replacement.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Behrat/Wikimedia Commons

Hawaii Firm Turns Home Water Heaters into Grid Batteries

March 14, 2023
298
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board/flickr

$30.9B Price Tag Makes Trans Mountain Pipeline a ‘Catastrophic Boondoggle’

March 14, 2023
141
David Dodge, Green Energy Futures/flickr

U.S. Solar Developers Scramble after Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

March 14, 2023
97
Rebecca Bollwitt/flickr

Fossils Stay ‘Oily’, Gibsons Sues Big Oil, U.S. Clean Energy Booms, EU Pushes Fossil Phaseout, and Fukushima Disaster was ‘No Accident’

March 14, 2023
74
EcoAnalytics

Canadians Want Strong Emissions Cap Regulations, Not More Missed Targets

March 14, 2023
72
U.S. Bureau of Land Management/flickr

Biden Approves $8B Oil Extraction Plan in Ecologically Sensitive Alaska

March 14, 2023
67

Recent Posts

Raysonho/wikimedia commons

Purolator Pledges $1B to Electrify Last-Mile Delivery

March 14, 2023
50
United Nations

UN Buys Tanker, But Funding Gap Could Scuttle Plan to Salvage Oil from ‘Floating Time Bomb’

March 10, 2023
89
Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

Biden Cuts Fossil Subsidies, But Oil and Gas Still Lines Up for Billions

March 10, 2023
172
jasonwoodhead23/flickr

First Nation Scorches Imperial Oil, Alberta Regulator Over Toxic Leak

March 8, 2023
364
MarcusObal/wikimedia commons

No Climate Risk Targets for Banks, New Guides for Green Finance as 2 Federal Agencies Issue New Rules

March 8, 2023
234
FMSC/Flickr

Millions Face Food Insecurity as Horn of Africa Braces for Worst Drought Ever

March 8, 2023
241
Next Post
Antoine Taveneaux/wikimedia commons

Court in India Rules Nature has Legal Rights on Par with Humans

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}