![Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks to reporters following the G-8 Summit at Camp David, Md., Saturday, May 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks to reporters following the G-8 Summit at Camp David, Md., Saturday, May 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)](https://www.mintpress.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/stephan-harper-690x388.jpg)
(MintPress)—A week after a major oil spill was discovered in Canada’s Alberta region, Stephen Harper, the nation’s prime minister, announced the country’s environmental regulations are about to be overhauled, eliminating provisions that barred oil companies from drilling in protected areas.
The changes to environmental policies are tacked into its budget implementation bill, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, C-38 — a 425-page piece of legislation that was tabled April 26 but is assumed to pass through Parliament, thanks to a conservative majority. The bill amends 60 acts, including the Fisheries Act and others related to natural resource projects and national parks.
Harper’s proposed move represents a shift within Canada’s environmental policies, which have historically favored protections for what many consider to be the nation’s greatest asset: its vast natural beauty. But with a surge in oil production, industry leaders are beginning to see the potential for continued drilling, with a global market eager to tap in on another source of the natural resource.
Harper and his fellow conservative party members have made the economy their key focus, arguing that lifting bans for drilling in specific areas hurts Canada’s ability to tap into a resource that could help grow the economy, benefiting big businesses first and trickling down into middle class society.
Opposition stands united
But not everyone is eager to agree to what they see as a trade of Canada’s natural beauty and wildlife habitats for potentially cheaper prices at the pump. Just last week, 22,000 barrels of oil were found spilling into the Muskeg River Mine in the northeastern area of Alberta from a Pace Oil and Gas pipeline, according to The Globe. The spill was discovered by a plane flying overhead. It’s considered one of the largest oil spills within the last few years, following the Rainbow pipeline spill last year that dumped 28,000 barrels of oil in the forests of Alberta.
Alberta has been the hotspot for oil drilling in Canada, drawing praise from job seekers willing to work in the oil fields and criticism by those who say the extraction method and practice itself is permanently destroying natural habitats. The oil within the region is considered to be tar oil, different than desert oil, requiring a different method of extraction — one that extracts three times the amount of carbon dioxide generated through desert drilling.
While environmentalists have opposed the current drilling, they’re now claiming new legislation could wipe out any hope of stopping or limiting the practice. And so they’re waging a silent, yet not so quiet, war on the bill, utilizing social media and the Internet in a movement known as “Black Out Speak Out” — one that called on organizations to shut down websites Monday as a form of protest — 1,300 websites answered the call.
“Right now, Parliament is pushing through a bill to weaken many of the country’s most important environmental protection measures and silence the voices of all Canadians who seek to defend nature,” the group states on its website. “Today it’s our voice; tomorrow it could be yours.”
An attempted visit to the Greenpeace website Monday brought viewers to a black page, with a small declaration addressing the organization’s opposition to the legislation and one simple message that summed up the campaign: “We will not be silenced.” The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) brought viewers to the same screen, with a message that read, “We’re fighting for the Canada we love. Our land and our water. Our climate. Our communities. Our fundamental rights. Our democracy.”
At the forefront of the blackout movement are non-profit environmental organizations, like Greenpeace and WWF, which claim Harper’s proposed legislation would directly impact their ability to serve as advocacy and watchdog groups. On its site, Black Out Speak Out cites the fact that government is adding $8 million specifically designated for additional auditing of charities and environmental groups through the Canada Revenue Agency.
In an effort to shed light on the issue, the advocacy group has released its “top 10” list of reasons to oppose the legislation. The group alleges that changes to the Fisheries Act in the proposed C-38 bill would eliminate many waterways from the definition, allowing oil companies to drill or construct pipelines through or near areas of water that are not specifically labeled by the government as “commercial or aboriginal fishers,” which are protected from intrusion.
It also voices concern over a replacement to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, which will limit the criteria necessary for projects that need environmental approval. The group argues the language of the bill does not make clear what projects do qualify for scrutiny, suggesting one group or government official would be given the responsibility to determine whether a project requires approval based on environmental concerns.
“The new Act gives the environmental minister and government officials broad decision-making power: The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency would be able to exempt a designated project from even going through the assessment process,” the organization states in press release.
Black Out Speak Out also cites concerns that the National Energy Board, under the new bill, would not evaluate a project to be sure that it does not interrupt the habitats of “at-risk” species. While Canada pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol, a global treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gasses, last year, the new legislation will revoke the country’s domestic accountability program to cut down on such emissions.
Government says new provision is pro-environment, pro-business
“The idea is simple and straightforward: to make Canada the most attractive country in the world for resource investment and development, and to enhance our world-class protection of the environment today for future generations of Canadians,” Canadian government spokesman Christopher Plunkett told the Washington Post.
Plunkett’s comment echoes the sentiment within the Canadian majority conservative government, which believes the new act does it all, promoting oil drilling and protecting the environment.
In the government’s legislative summary, it states amendments to the Fisheries Act allow for more protection of commercial, recreational or Aboriginal fisheries, claiming it could “more effectively manage those activities that pose the greatest threats to these fisheries.”
Environmentalists, on the other hand, says it then removes protections for simple waterways, which are not deemed ‘fisheries.’
Speaking to provisions to the National Energy Board Act, the government summary indicates the Government in Council will be given more authority to issue certificates for major pipelines — a measure it indicates would establish time limits for regulatory reviews. That goes along with provisions to the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act, which gives the National Energy Board federal jurisdiction over decisions over which waterways pipelines and power lines can cross. While the government sees it as a way to create accountability within the system, environmentalists are concerned it would give too much power to one government entity.
It’s no secret that Harper and those within his party have been pro-drilling, inciting critics who claim one cannot both be pro drilling and pro environment. Such bold measures by Harper indicate confidence that Alberta oils will be available to global markets through the proposed Keystone pipeline, which still requires American approval.
While U.S. President Barack Obama has said decisions regarding the 1,700 mile pipeline won’t be made until 2013, citing the need for environmental review, in March he approved a portion of construction of the pipeline in the southern states, near the Gulf Coast — a decision that points to a victory for TransCanada, the company pushing the pipeline project.
Obama continues to receive pressure from union groups and conservatives, who claim the pipeline would bring more jobs to the nation and flow more oil into the global market. In the face of resistance to the Keystone project, Harper has also alluded to the fact that, if the U.S. doesn’t help out its northern neighbors, they’ll turn to China as a major exporter — a move the U.S. government could see as an infringement on the nation’s energy security, and one they’re likely to counter.