Concerns over the lack of Environmental Safeguards in the Canada-Alberta “One Project, One Review” Agreement

When it comes to the environment, jurisdiction sometimes becomes murky. I believe that this uncertainness is what’s causing Canada to be lacking in environmental protection. The Canada-Alberta Assessment Co-operation agreement is yet another policy that will continue putting the environment on the backburner. Canada is one nation and in areas where one province’s action will affect the ultimate success of the country negatively, the environment in this case, the Federal government must have jurisdiction or at the very least have strict policy and regulation along with it, to ensure provinces are placing the environment and Indigenous Rights at a high regard and working in accordance with Canada’s climate commitments as well as emissions reductions goals.

In this agreement between Canada and the province of Alberta, there are a couple of holes to be poked.

• The first cause of concern comes to Alberta taking a lead on Indigenous consultation. When taking into consideration the current relationship between the Alberta Government and Indigenous Leaders (as well as the history of this relationship), it does not instill confidence that consultation will be done diligently. It is the constitutional responsibility of the Federal Government in matters concerning Indigenous Rights, so being involved in the process or adding a clause with very clear verbiage on what Alberta’s duty to consult Indigenous Peoples must look like.
• Historically speaking, it is clear that Alberta has not prioritized the environment. Without safeguards like the Federal Impact Assessment providing a certain set of guidelines, how can the Federal Government make sure that the commitment and targets that were set for Canada as a nation will be reached if provinces are not held to a certain standard. With these larger climate commitments, the long-term effects of projects will also have to be taken into consideration, meaning Impact assessments will have to be extremely well rounded, possibly meaning scientific review in issues regarding long-term climate impacts.

However much this might improve efficiency and provide provinces to take accountability for their actions and be the leaders in reducing our negative environmental impact, especially concerning new project proposals, one can unfortunately not be sure, and with the current state of the environment, I would urge the Federal Government to not take chances. Instead of loosening the reins on environmental policy, immediate action should be taken in the opposite direction.