The Council of Canadians sent a brief letter to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency today asking the Agency to scrap the “stakeholder consultation” process on a regulation stemming from the new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA).
The letter, written by Water Campaigner Emma Lui, states: “The changes to the CEAA will have profound impacts on water sources in Canada for generations to come. We are calling on the federal government to scrap this process and begin genuine public consultation on the repeal and replacement of the CEAA. We refrain from providing any input as this ‘consultation’ process remains a hollow exercise until this matter is opened up to the public for debate.”
The omnibus budget bill (Bill C-38), which was introduced in spring, makes sweeping changes to up to 70 different pieces of legislation including the repeal and replacement of the CEAA. The inclusion of the CEAA in the budget bill precluded public debate on the new CEAA.
Selected ENGOs have been invited to provide input on the Project List regulations, a list found in one of three regulations of the new CEAA: the Cost Recovery Regulations, the Prescribed Information for a Description of a Designated Project Regulations, and the Regulations Designating Physical Activities.
To read the Council of Canadians’ letter, click here.
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