Opinion: We were promised legislation that would restore public trust, ensure fair processes and get resources to market. Bill C-69 falls short
The LNG Canada announcement that its liquified natural gas project at Kitimat, B.C., will move forward is a great story for Canada and shows how complex and important Canadian resource development is to our country. It also shows that our current environmental impact assessment process works to protect our precious natural environment.
But, stories like this will become few and far between, especially if the impact assessment process proposed in the current Bill C-69 is passed and implemented.
Middle-class Canadians across the country who are hoping for similar projects and the many direct and indirect job opportunities that flow from them should know that Canada is developing a reputation as a high-risk place to do business. Bill C-69, if passed in its current form, will make this reputation much, much worse.
We cannot afford to introduce the additional uncertainty created by Bill C-69. Well-paying Canadian middle-class jobs are at stake. In a global business environment that is increasingly unpredictable, it is critical that our regulatory systems balance economic growth with environmental protection and that our elected government create the conditions for that sustainable growth.
Bill C-69, as drafted, suggests neither of these. It will lead to greater uncertainty in the assessment and review processes. It requires assessment and decisions based on broad public policy questions that are beyond the scope of individual projects.
For the rest of this article: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/this-liberal-bill-will-hurt-canada-and-canadian-workers