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The federal government kicked off the fall parliamentary session with new legislation to “reshape” major project approvals, but experts say the North’s own regulatory systems won’t change.
On Monday, the first day back after summer break, a gaggle of federal ministers announced the bill’s many changes to regulatory processes. The proposals include:
- giving the federal environment minister the power to issue all permits;
- giving the government the ability to designate strategic trade corridors;
- establishing “regions of national interest”; and
- coordinating Indigenous consultation through a Crown consultation hub.
In a technical briefing, however, a federal government official said the changes to federal impact assessment and permit processes will not change processes in the Northwest Territories.
Accompanying documents state the legislation – called the Building Canada Strong Act – will “not alter northern impact assessment and permitting co-management regimes, which are derived from modern treaties.”
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The legislation does not include the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act so the regulatory, assessment and permitting processes in the region will “generally stay the same,” Ryan Fequet, executive director of the Wek’èezhìi Land and Water Board, told Cabin Radio on Monday.
“It has very little impact as far as the current integrated resource co-management system,” said Fequet, “but it does commit the federal folks and the federal family to coordinating all their various authorizations and their timing of decision.”
For example, the federal government wants to give the environment minister the power to issue one decision under the Impact Assessment Act that includes all required permits. Currently, federal ministers have to issue their own specific permits under the Fisheries Act. The change would allow the environment minister to make the final call, in consultation with other ministers.
“Our standards will be simple: one project, one review, and one year to a decision,” intergovernmental affairs minister Dominic LeBlanc said at a Monday press conference.
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Fequet said ensuring meaningful consultation is carried out will be “the ultimate decider” on how much faster federal approvals can actually go.
If the draft legislation becomes law, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission will be responsible for conducting impact assessments for nuclear and uranium projects. This is currently done by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.
The bill also includes changes to the Canada Labour Code.
The Liberal government says those changes will “strengthen collective bargaining by helping parties address issues earlier,” though some unions have suggested workers’ right to strike may be weakened.
