Improving Clarity and Ensuring Credibility

Clarity

The cooperation Agreement will be read my many who are not constitutional scholars. For communications purposes it should be clear on the constitutional underpinnings requiring provincial governments and Canada to work together on approving major projects and avoiding unacceptable environmental harm.

On clarity, the draft Agreement falls short. It lays out areas of Alberta’s jurisdiction but not areas under the jurisdiction of Canada and thus could be interpreted as accepting that only Alberta has relevant areas of jurisdiction. Thus, it does not explain the need for Alberta and Canada to work together.

It should clearly spell out the relevant jurisdictional provisions for each of Alberta and Canada for approvals of many large projects, e.g., provinces approve the development of non-renewable resources and Canada regulates trade and commerce, seacoasts and inland fisheries and undertakings connecting provinces with other provinces.

It is the interactions between these jurisdictional responsibilities that requires governments to work together.

It should clearly spell out that environmental protection is not mentioned in the Constitution Act but the provisions for ensuring environment protection are split between Alberta and Canada, for example with provinces protecting lands and Canada protecting fisheries.

Specifically, the second WHEREAS paragraph should cite the constitution text for areas of provincial jurisdiction. It should be accompanied by a sister paragraph with relevant areas of Canada’s jurisdictions. Both should cite the Constitution Act verbatim: Exact words matter.

Specifically, the fourth WHEREAS paragraph should explain that responsibility for "the environment" is not included in the Constitution Act but some elements of that protection are the responsibility of each level of government, for example provinces are responsible for lands and Canada is responsible for fisheries and interprovincial undertakings. This means that it is appropriate that both levels of government work together to protect the environment.

Adding this clarity will enhance the quality of debate going forward.

Credibility

The credibility of the assessment process and conclusions will be diminished if some credible science is not included in the assessment process. The Agreement should state that the best science and knowledge from Canada, Alberta and Indigenous Peoples will be used during the assessment and when defining any conditions.