A giant sand artwork adorns New Brighton Beach to highlight the forthcoming COP26 global climate conference on in Wirral, Merseyside, on May 31, 2021. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
The environment ministers of Alberta and Ontario sent a letter to Ottawa ahead of a July 2 and 3 conference between provincial and federal leaders in Yellowknife asking for the repeal of a number of Trudeau-era federal climate rules they say are slowing Canada’s economic growth.
The letter, sent by Alberta’s Rebecca Schulz and Ontario’s Todd McCarthy, says the Impact Assessment Act, emissions cap for the oil and gas sector, clean electricity regulations, and areas of the Species at Risk Act are preventing Canada from moving ahead economically and have no “quantifiable benefits to the natural environment.”
“We are hopeful that this new federal government will move away from policies and legislation that undermine competitiveness, delay project development, and disproportionately harm specific provinces and territories,” reads the letter, sent to the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Julie Dabrusin.
Schulz and McCarthy further request in the letter that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government refrain from reintroducing Bill C-61, which pertains to increased oversight on water and infrastructure on First Nations land.
In addition to asking that the Impact Assessment Act be rolled back, the Schulz and McCarthy letter asks for the repeal of the legislation enabling the carbon tax. Shortly after becoming prime minister in March, Carney cut the consumer carbon tax to zero. He has also introduced legislation to remove the framework behind the tax. The legislation is currently before Parliament.
Ottawa enacted the Impact Assessment Act in 2019, granting the federal government authority to require environmental reviews for resource and infrastructure projects. In 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the law was “largely unconstitutional.” Although the federal government amended the act in June 2024, Alberta maintains the revisions still fail to adequately safeguard provincial jurisdiction.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has repeatedly called for the repeal of the Impact Assessment Act and the repeal or major reformation of any carbon tax, along with an end to electric vehicle mandates and lifting an oil tanker ban along B.C.’s northern coast. Saskatchewan recently joined Alberta’s lawsuit against the Impact Assessment Act that was filed in November of last year. Saskatchewan’s Justice Minister Tim McLeod said the decision was made to protect the province from “overreach” by Ottawa.
Smith said on June 26 that separatist sentiments in her province are the highest she’s ever seen and that the federal government should take the movement “seriously.” She suggested that if Ottawa changes the policies she says have hindered the province’s economy over the past decade, such sentiments may subside.
Carney has said he’s committed to “creating more opportunities in the energy sector for hardworking Albertans,” and his government recently passed Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act, which fast-tracks projects deemed in the national interest.
The bill, which became law June 26, simplifies the application process for major projects and reduces trade barriers between provinces. Carney says he is committed to collaborating with provinces, territories, and indigenous communities to determine which “nation-building” projects should be prioritized with a “one project, one review” system.
Paul Rowan Brian is a news reporter with the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times.