QUESTION PERIOD — Natural Resources
Oil and Gas Industry
June 17, 2019
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Last week, the council of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Fort McMurray passed a motion condemning Bill C-48 and Bill C-69, saying they would be detrimental to the viability and sustainability of their region and the energy sector. The motion urged honourable senators to defeat these bills.
Mr. Don Scott, the Mayor of Fort McMurray, recently told our Transport Committee how his community, once called “the economic engine of Canada,” has been hurt in recent years. The population has declined, home prices have dropped almost 30 per cent and the food bank usage has skyrocketed.
Senator Harder, the fallout from Bills C-48 and C-69 will be incredibly important to Fort McMurray and countless other resource-based communities across Canada. What do you say to these people who have serious concerns about the impact of these bills on their livelihoods and their families?
I thank the honourable senator for his question. He has participated in the debates in this chamber — and certainly observed the debates outside of this chamber, in the other place — on both of these bills. He will know there are differing views, and indeed we look forward later today to begin debate on the message with respect to Bill C-69. He will also know that the bill that was sent to the other place from this place is being debated in the other chamber.
These are views that parliamentarians are taking positions on. It is certainly the view of the Government of Canada that these are important economic measures designed to enhance and improve the capacity of environmental assessment in Canada so that projects can not only be proposed but can be approved and delivered.
Last week the Prime Minister dismissed the serious concerns about Bill C-69 and Bill C-48 raised by the premier, saying they were completely irresponsible.
Senator Harder, the men and women who depend upon jobs in our energy sector to provide for their families also have serious concerns about these bills. Does the Prime Minister believe they too are irresponsible?
Again, I think it’s important to note that the government’s motivation in pursuing environmental assessment improvements is entirely designed to support the economic agenda of the government to ensure that projects, as I said earlier, can not only be proposed but the environmental assessment can be made in a timely fashion, with the hope that the appropriate projects, given the support of the proposal as well as the proponents and those who have other views, can lead to a conclusion on which the project can proceed.
