QUESTION PERIOD — Justice
Impact Assessment Act
May 12, 2022
Honourable senators, my question concerns the government leader’s response to Senator Tannas on Tuesday regarding the ruling of the Court of Appeal of Alberta that the Impact Assessment Act, formerly Bill C-69, is unconstitutional.
Leader, you said:
The government worked with provincial and territorial governments when developing the legislation to ensure that their views were considered and that jurisdictional responsibilities were respected . . . . Working collaboratively with provinces . . . .
I repeat the word “collaboratively.” You end that sentence by saying, “. . . supports a single impact assessment process for major projects that considers all project impacts.”
Leader, who exactly did your NDP-Liberal government work collaboratively with on Bill C-69? Alberta? Saskatchewan? Ontario? The Woodland Cree First Nation? The Indian Resource Council? They all opposed Bill C-69 in court and won the case. So where was the so-called collaboration, leader?
Honourable senators, the fact that the government engaged not only with provinces and stakeholders but also that the bill was the subject of vigorous debate here does not mean everyone has to agree at the end of the day. Clearly they don’t. The government remains convinced that the bill was carefully crafted to affect areas of federal jurisdiction and is confident that its use will be upheld on appeal.
Well, of course, that didn’t even touch upon the question I asked.
Leader, I don’t know what you or your government think “collaboration” means. It’s not just debating here in the chamber. The Oxford Dictionary definition of collaboration is, “The action of working with someone to produce or create something.” What the Trudeau government did regarding Bill C-69 was “impose,” to “Force (something unwelcome or unfamiliar) to be accepted or put in place.”
Leader, in 2019, the government of your own province wrote to the Senate’s Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources Committee to say:
While Quebec conveyed its concerns to the federal government, there was no real government-to-government dialogue on Bill C-69 . . . .
Leader, if there was no dialogue on Bill C-69, how is that collaboration? If provinces and First Nations had to take your government to court to be heard on Bill C-69, how is that collaboration, leader?
In the development of Bill C-69, the Government of Canada took into account the interests of all stakeholders and of Canada in ensuring that there is a proper, efficient and effective process for overseeing the environmental impact of major projects.
The government believed and believes it was acting within its constitutional jurisdiction, a shared jurisdiction between the federal Parliament and the provincial legislatures, and remains of that view.
