Green groups outraged after Ottawa changes the rules on environmental assessments

The Liberal government walked back the requirement in amendments to its controversial 2019 Impact Assessment Act, parts of which the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional in the fall.

Under changes introduced to the Impact Assessment Act, oilsands projects will no longer be subject to federal environmental reviews of the amount of emissions they would add to the atmosphere.

Canadians are already seeing the impacts of climate change in the rising frequency of severe weather events, the disappearance of freshwater resources, more frequent and intense forest fires, shrinking Arctic ice and the acceleration of glacial melting.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Thursday that Canada has an ‘arsenal of measures now to tackle climate change pollution’ that weren’t in place when the Impact Assessment Act was originally adopted.

"I was surprised to see the government retreat further than they need to to address the Supreme Court's decision and abandon important areas of federal authority over climate change and air pollution," Elgie said.

Martin Olszynski, a lawyer who intervened in the case, said Ottawa is probably taking a strategic approach, opting for changes to the Impact Assessment Act which would survive another constitutional challenge.