By Heather Scoffield, The Canadian Press
Posted: 10/21/2012 10:49 am EDT
Updated: 10/21/2012 4:12 pm EDT
OTTAWA – Government calls it making way for business. Outraged foes call it the slicing and dicing of environmental protection and any remaining trust with aboriginal peoples.
Over several months of omnibus bills, amendments, regulations and tinkering with longstanding conventions, Ottawa has undertaken a series of adjustments that add up to undeniably profound changes in both environmental and aboriginal policy.
Bill C-45, the 457-page budget omnibus bill tabled this week in the House of Commons, is the latest instalment in what may seem like evolutionary changes. They may turn out to be revolutionary changes.
“It is all about jobs, investment and opportunity. It is all about creating economic growth so Canadians can get back into the workforce and be able to provide for themselves and their families,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told the House on Friday under a barrage of aggressive questions about C-45.
Canadian business leaders are saying little but they are quietly content with these changes, officials with several major business groups told The Canadian Press.
Aboriginal groups and environmentalists, however, say they are deeply disturbed — both with the new directions and the stealthy way those directions were undertaken.
“When our people see no movement from the government to work with us, when they see backsliding, undermining and continuing threats and pressures on an already burdened population, the flames only grow stronger,” Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations said last week.
“Our people will not stand for it. Rightly so, there is growing anger and frustration.”
There has been no big announcement or unveiling of a bold new strategy. Rather, profound changes have come cloaked in dense bureaucratese that lawyers from all vantage points are still puzzling over.
“Essentially what the federal government has done is slice and dice environmental law to the point where they are not protecting water or air,” said Jessica Clogg, executive director of West Coast Environmental Law.
On the environment front, reform first came in the spring budget omnibus bill that, among other things, replaced the Environmental Assessment Act, significantly modified the Fisheries Act, tinkered with the Species At Risk Act, and gave ministers more approval power over energy and pipeline projects.
Natural resource industries were delighted with the changes and did not lobby for anything further, notes NDP environment critic Megan Leslie.
“They were pleased as punch. They didn’t ask for anything else.”
But the government went further anyway.
In the second budget omnibus bill tabled this week, there was more tinkering to make up for faulty wording the first time around, more changes to the Fisheries Act, as well as a major revamping of the Navigable Waters Protection Act. Indeed, the word “waters” will be dropped in when the bill passes.
The end result? There will be dramatically fewer environmental assessments, focused only on major projects. Provinces will handle the assessments if they are able. Only fish of commercial importance will be protected.
Pipelines will be exempt from the navigable waters act and the environmental assessments that law has often triggered. Only three oceans, 97 lakes and 62 rivers will be covered by the new act — less than one per cent of Canada’s waterways.
But if mining companies are tempted to pump water out of any of those waters to use for dumping tailings, they will no longer be allowed.
“The net effect is that Canada’s environment is less protected by the federal government than it ever has been before. They are piece by piece getting out of the business,” said Will Amos, director of the Ecojustice environmental law clinic at the University of Ottawa.
The goal, government argues, is to maintain environmental protection, stiffen enforcement, but to reduce overlap and regulatory uncertainty so that safe resource development can go ahead without unnecessary delay. Billions of dollars in investment will be unlocked.
Environment Minister Peter Kent and Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan were not immediately available for comment.
The changes give the pipeline industry exactly what it had hoped for: “more focus, more certainty, more transparency,” says Brenda Kenny, president and CEO of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association.
“That is what has been accomplished.”
The overhaul of aboriginal policy has also been layered into the two budget bills, but is complemented by additional proposals for legislation. The aim, according to Minister Duncan, is for Ottawa to get out of the way and allow First Nations to develop more self-reliance.
“Our government has been hard at work modernizing legislation in order to allow First Nations and aboriginal organizations to operate at the speed of business,” Duncan said in a speech last week.
He has introduced new rules for financial transparency on reserves, passed a law to improve the quality of drinking water, and opened the door to reforms in land management and private ownership. He has promised to table new legislation to overhaul native schooling and give more control to First Nations.
And last week, the Conservatives threw their support behind a private member’s bill setting out steps to remove the Indian Act.
Except in almost every case, Ottawa has lost the support of large numbers of First Nations leaders because of a lack of consultation, cooperation and trust.
“Much was promised by Prime Minister Harper and his ministers. Much less has been delivered thus far,” Atleo said in his speech at Ryerson University last week.
“The clock is now ticking, my friends. My people will not wait on the delivery of promises forever. And we have seen the tragedies that explode when patience runs out.”
Despite the extremely complicated legislation that is driving so many of the changes, opposition parties feel they have the ear of the public.
On Monday, Liberal interim leader Bob Rae is going to put forward an alternative strategy for reforming aboriginal policy, in the hopes of gaining the necessary support of First Nations.
He is asking MPs to support a motion that would see Ottawa negotiate directly with First Nations on a nation-to-nation basis. They talks would create a replacement for the Indian Act based on constitutional and treaty rights as well as the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples signed by Canada.
While the Liberals are using procedure, the NDP is turning to the public.
The NDP’s Leslie says the backlash during the summer over the changes to environmental assessment tell her that voters can be counted on again this fall to pressure the Conservatives into scaling back its plans.
“We know that this government doesn’t pay attention to science,” she said. “But they do pay attention to public opinion.”
Related on HuffPost:
The Conservative government has introduced Bill C-45, the second omnibus budget implementation bill. Here’s a brief look at what’s inside the 450-page document. With files from CBC
MP And Public Service Pensions
UPDATE: MP Pensions have been hived off from the omnibus bill and passed without further debate in a surprise deal between the government and opposition parties. Starting as early as January 2013, public servants and MPs will have to contribute 50 per cent of the payments into their pensions. MPs will also have to wait until age 65 to start collecting their pensions, or be penalized if they start at age 55. The precise date for MP pension changes is Jan. 1, 2016. There will be no change to the current eligibility for MP pensions of six years of service.
Unemployment Insurance
The Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board will be dissolved, and an interim means of establishing premium rates set up to replace its work. The Crown Corporation is currently run by a seven-member board. This move continues employment insurance changes started with the first omnibus budget bill, as cabinet gradually receives more authority to reform EI.
Changes To The Indian Act
The bill makes what could be controversial changes to the Indian Act, amending it to change the rules around what kind of meetings or referenda are required to lease or otherwise grant an interest in designated reserve lands. The aboriginal affairs minister would also be given the authority to call a band meeting or referendum for the purpose of considering an absolute surrender of the band’s territory.
Environmental Assessment Act Tweaks
Last spring’s changes to the Environmental Assessment Act are tweaked further in this omnibus bill.
Hiring Tax Credit
The bill will extend a popular small business hiring credit.
New Bridge To U.S.
C-45 also facilitates the construction of a new bridge across the Detroit River at Windsor, announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper last summer. Certain legislation will be changed and other legislation won’t apply to this bridge. Three federal bodies will cease to exist with the passage of this legislation.
Grain Act Amended
The bill also amends the Canada Grain Act, simplifying the way it classifies grain terminals, repealing grain appeal tribunals, and ending several other requirements of the current Act, giving the Canadian Grains Commission more power to regulate the grain industry. These changes follow the end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly over wheat and barley sales in Western Canada, which take effect for this year’s harvest.
Hazardous Materials Under Health
All the work of the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission will be transferred to the health minister.
Merchant Seamen Board Under Labour
The Merchant Seamen Compensation Board will see its authority transferred to the Minister of Labour. The three-person board currently hears and decides benefit claims for merchant seamen who are injured or disabled as a result of their work and are not currently covered by provincial workers’ compensation benefits.
Around the Web:
Omnibus budget: Bill C-45 is an affront to democracy
Omnibus bill only the latest move in profound changes for environment, natives
Budget bill’s pension changes to save $2.6B over 5 years
Jim Flaherty claims ‘no surprises’ in budget Bill C-45
Major environmental groups oppose damaging federal omnibus Bill C-45
Budget bill overhauls rich pensions for MPs and senators
Budget bill’s pension changes to save $2.6B over 5 years
MPs to contribute more to pensions, must wait until 65 to collect benefits
Opposition braces for budget bill round two
Another ‘cynical chapter’: Tory budget bill too big, NDP complains
Second budget bill reigns in pensions for politicians and public servants
C-45: Meet the new omnibus budget bill
Omnibus bill aims to rein in pensions for MPs, public servants
Filed by Jacqueline Delange in
More in Canada Politics…
screen reader text
continue reading source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/10/21/omnibus-budget-bill-c-45_n_1997300.html
Remember, politics is a contact sport, like hockey, so please feel free to add quick contributions, observations and relevant information as a comment below!
Contact us if you would like to contribute to our collaborative efforts or would like to share/submit articles, data or additional content, feel free to add feedback, additional info, alternative contact details, related links, articles, anonymous submission, etc. as a comment below, via web-form, through social media outlets or email us directly and confidentially at: dumpharper [at] live [dot] ca
This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. and intend its use to be for education and instructional purposes only. Therefore, we believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond “fair use,” you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
ShareAlike Statement: https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/sharealike/
Dump Harper! 