ANDRUS: Here they come again with their illegal Impact Assessment Act

The Impact Assessment Act is back. Despite October's 5-2 ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada that the Impact Assessment Act was unconstitutional, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault, has resurrected it.We knew this was going to happen.Guilbeault, speaking in an interview shortly after the ruling was released, affirmed the federal government's intention to maintain the Impact Assessment Act by amending it. He suggested that the Trudeau Liberals may consider minor adjustments to certain language within the law, aiming to address any concerns raised by the court.Recall that the Impact Assessment Act, often dubbed the "No More Pipelines Law", had far-reaching implications, granting the federal government unprecedented authority to hinder a wide array of energy and infrastructure projects, even those confined within a single province.Recognizing the sweeping implications, Alberta petitioned the Supreme Court to adjudicate on the law, prompting seven other provinces — Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan - to join Alberta's stance in the legal proceedings.The Supreme Court had two key findings:First, the Act failed to target effects within federal jurisdiction, as defined, in its decision-making processes.Second, the defined term "effects within federal jurisdiction" did not align with federal legislative jurisdiction.Despite this clear ruling, the federal government, with Guilbeault leading the charge, has remained steadfast in its commitment to maintain the Impact Assessment Act.Now, his proposed changes are buried in a sweeping budget implementation bill, known as Bill C-69: An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 16, 2024, or Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1.Bill C-69 is 686 pages long. The Impact Assessment Act amendments begin on page 552.The Impact Assessment Act will receive a new name — “An Act respecting a federal process for impact assessments and the prevention or mitigation of significant adverse effects within federal jurisdiction”.Don’t let the long and convoluted title fool you. The federal government is well versed in using word salad to obfuscate obvious federal intrusions.The Alberta government contends that the proposed amendments remain unconstitutional and is already contemplating additional legal recourse. It is anticipated that other provinces will also take similar legal action, given their stances on the original Act.Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Minister of Justice Mickey Amery, and Minister of the Environment Rebecca Schulz issued a joint statement on Monday, denouncing the recent amendments as yet another instance of federal government overreach."...Guilbeault still has the ability to meddle in projects that are within provincial jurisdiction... This is simply unacceptable and Alberta, when it comes to intra-provincial projects, will not recognize the Impact Assessment Act as valid law."Guilbeault, on the other hand, remains unyielding in his stance, emphasizing the necessity of these projects to "transform Canada's economy" and "achieve our climate targets."That brings us to the climate targets, which appear to be the hill the federal Liberal-NDP alliance is prepared to die on.Their expensive climate targets are already exacerbating Canada's affordability crisis and stifling development nationwide. They have demonstrated over and over again that they will deliberately ignore provincial jurisdiction in their quest to reach net-zero.It's time to take a stand.That's why here at Project Confederation we are relaunching our campaign to repeal the Act entirely. Only a full repeal will do.I urge you to take immediate action by signing our petition to Repeal The Unconstitutional Impact Assessment Act.

ANDRUS: Here they come again with their illegal Impact Assessment Act

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