I’m on the Bill C-69 committee — and I’m hearing a lot of angry Canadians – by Richard Neufeld (Financial Post – April 26, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Richard Neufeld is a Senator for British Columbia and is a member of the environment and natural resources committee. He was previously a B.C. MLA and cabinet minister.

What is Bill C-69? I bet many have heard about it, but few actually understand what it seeks to achieve and how it could have disastrous consequences on our country.

The Trudeau government claims C-69 will restore public trust in our environmental-assessment review process and energy regulator by creating two brand new agencies. The government defends its bill by repeating (over and over again) the same keywords and catchphrases you would expect from politicians.

As a former provincial cabinet minister in British Columbia, I’ve been in the game long enough to recognize when a bill does not pass the smell test. No government talking points can save this bill, which is why the Senate’s committee on energy, the environment and natural resources has taken the extraordinary step of taking this bill on the road to hear from you.

The government brags about conducting comprehensive consultations before it tabled this bill last year. Clearly, it failed miserably considering the amount of criticism this bill has been generating ever since. The prime minister should be thanking Senators for stepping up to the plate in trying to get this right.

Two weeks ago, our committee travelled to Western Canada and held over 30 hours of public hearings in Vancouver, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Saskatoon and Winnipeg, and heard from over 100 witnesses.

For the rest of this column: https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/im-on-the-bill-c-69-committee-and-im-hearing-a-lot-of-angry-canadians