Bill C-38; Comprehensive Package or “Sneak Attack”?

Image obtained via franke.james on Flickr Creative Commons

The bill has completed the Committee Report Presented in the House of Commons stage, and is now undergoing a round of voting over the proposed amendments to the bill.

Other than the reforms to the environmental and fisheries laws, the budget bill also proposes major reforms to Canadian natural resource project approval rules, employment insurance benefits, Old Age Security eligibility, food safety and oversight of the country’s spy agency.

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Here is a glance of the sub-divisions of the Legislative Summary which focus on the environment, published on the Parliament of Canada website, which you can visit for the entire Legislative Summary or the entire Bill itself – (http://www.parl.gc.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Mode=1&Language=E&billId=5514128&View=8).

Division One of Part Three “establishes a new federal environmental assessment regime,” essentially meaning that it will fall under the purview of the Federal Government to carry out projects if “they determine that those projects are not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects”.

[pullquote]The budget bill also proposes major reforms to Canadian natural resource project approval rules, employment insurance benefits, Old Age Security eligibility, food safety and oversight of the country’s spy agency.[/pullquote]Division Two of Part Three amends the National Energy Board Act to allow the Governor in Council, who acts on the advice of the Federal Cabinet, to make the decisions on the issuance of certificates for major pipelines. Additionally, it provides the National Energy Board with Federal Jurisdiction over navigable land and pipelines “that cross navigable waters.” It also places time limits on regulatory reviews and enhances the power of the Board Chairperson to enforce these limits.

Division Three of Part Three amends the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act to again transfer Federal Jurisdiction to the National Energy Board over navigable waters, land and pipelines. And remember, by this time the National Energy Board will be under the tutelage of the (Conservative) Governor in Council Prosco.

Division Four of Part Three amends the Nuclear Safety and Control Act so that it may allow the maximum term of temporary members of the Council of Safety Commission – whom are appointed by an Order in Council signed by the Governor in Council – to increase from the current six months to three years.

Division Five of Part Three amends the Fisheries Act to “more effectively manage those activities that pose greatest threats to these fisheries” – in other words, giving the Federal Government more power to determine how to manage those things that affect fisheries which, among others, include oil drilling and pipelines. It also calls for the “clarity for authorization of serious harm to fish and of deposits of deleterious substances.” It further stipulates that the Governor in Council be the one who appoints a new Minister to oversee the implementation of the Act and that this new minister have the power to “expand and clarify powers of inspectors.”

Division Six of Part Three amends the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 to give the Minister of the Environment authorization to “renew disposal-at-sea permits in prescribed circumstances.”

Finally Division Seven of Part Three amends the Species at Risk act to ensure, among other things, that the “National Energy Board will be able to issue a certificate when required to do so by the Governor in Council under subsection 54(1) of the National Energy Board Act.”

Sources:
– Stephen R. Gilman
– franke.james
– AVAAZ.ORG
– PARLIAMENT OF CANADA WEBSITE
– OPEN PARLIAMENT WEBSITE
– HUFFINGTON POST
– CBC
– THE SPEC