Highlights of C-38

The following are highlights of Bill C-38. I've drawn these out from writings by Elizabeth May, which can be found on the Green Party website:

• Bill C-38 is an omnibus bill proposed by the Harper government within the budget implementation process. It contains 425 pages of sweeping changes to current environmental legislation in Canada;
• Because the bill is a budget-related bill it means only the Finance Committee will be allowed to review it, despite the fact that a considerable number of environmental laws are implicated;
• Harper has placed time allocation on the bill, which limits discussion and may see the bill pushed through into law within a few weeks;
• The bill contains amendments to 70 other bills;
• The Kyoto Protocal Implementation Act will be repealed;
• The National Round Table on Environment and Economy Act will be repealed;
• Section 35 of the Fisheries Act (which protects habitats from unchecked development) will be altered to make it easier to acquire permits for development.
• A provision to allow Provinces to take jurisdiction over fisheries management will enable the federal government to avoid that responsibility;
• The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act will be repealed and replaced. The new act defines "environmental effects" much more narrowly, such that only impacts on fish, migratory birds and marine plants would be examined in assessments;
• The Minister of Environment would be given greater powers over environmental assessments, with the right to stop an assessment at any time if they feel it is taking too long.
• The federal cabinet would be able to over-rule decisions made within environmental reviews;
• A development project involved federal money will not be required to undergo environmental assessment;
• The National Energy Board will be given additional powers in environmental assessment, with the right to approve pipeline construction (this would result in changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act and the Species at Risk Act);
• A current one-year maximum for acquiring a permit to dispose waste in the ocean will be changed to a four year maximum;
• A current five-year maximum for acquiring permits to put species at risk from industrial development will be made unlimited;
• Pipelines would no longer be considered a "work" within the Navigable Waters Protection Act;
• 638 of Parks Canada's 3000 workers will lose their jobs;
• Reporting requirements in the Parks Canada Agency Act will be reduced;
• The Coasting Trade Act will be altered to make it easier for oil companies to conduct seismic testing and drilling;
• The Canada Seeds Act is going to be privatized: Whereas currently the Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspects seed crops, this responsibility will be transfered to private companies;
• The government will more closely monitor environmental charities and financial gifts will not be considered charities if it the funds are used for political action;
• Numerous water consumption monitoring programs in Environment Canada will be cut (most notably the Municipal Water and Wastewater Survey - which has been in place since 1983);
• There will be a 20% cut to the Environmental Effects Monitoring Program (which monitors the effluent from mines and mills).

As Elizabeth May has called it, Bill-C38 is quite an "Environmental Destruction Act"! Yet, ironically, the bill goes by the official title of "Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prospertiy Act". The legal changes that will be introduced if the bill is passed are deep, severe, and will be long lasting. It's hard to imagine 'long term prosperity' coming about by such drastic changes to Canadian environmental policy.