Discussion · Government Orders
Elizabeth May Green
“I oppose this bill. Rushing environmental reviews does not make projects happen faster. In 2012, the government set tight deadlines and rushed reviews for the Kinder Morgan pipeline. The review was done poorly, the courts stopped it, and the project took longer. Rushing causes waste.”
“Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member’s bringing us back to spring 2012, when the Harper government brought in the omnibus budget bill, Bill C-38, which repealed the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, fast-tracked a new act, set time limits on every single phase of environmental review and passed the whole thing over for the first time to the National Energy Board. The Kinder Morgan project was a prime example of something that took longer because of the haste with which the omnibus bill was pushed through and the fact that the National Energy Board, a quasi-judicial body that was exempted from operating as quasi-judicial body, could not meet the timelines. As a result of all that, the project went off the rails, and the federal court found that it had not followed due process. Haste makes waste.”
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member’s bringing us back to spring 2012, when the Harper government brought in the omnibus budget bill, Bill C-38, which repealed the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, fast-tracked a new act, set time limits on every single phase of environmental review and passed the whole thing over for the first time to the National Energy Board. The Kinder Morgan project was a prime example of something that took longer because of the haste with which the omnibus bill was pushed through and the fact that the National Energy Board, a quasi-judicial body that was exempted from operating as quasi-judicial body, could not meet the timelines. As a result of all that, the project went off the rails, and the federal court found that it had not followed due process. Haste makes waste.