Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, August 31, 2012

Axing reviews not a solution

It's one thing for the federal government to listen to lobbying by resource development companies and other industry groups to streamline the environmental review process of projects to make it more efficient.

That doesn't mean, however, that the proper response is to scrap the reviews altogether, or for the federal government to wash its hands of the responsibility by turning it over to the provinces or other agencies that are going through their own budget restructuring processes, which have an impact on their capacity to conduct reviews.

News last week that the federal Conservative government's wide-ranging budget legislation has forced the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to cancel screenings into the potential environment damage from nearly 3,000 projects across the country doesn't do much for Canada's international image or inspire confidence among citizens that their interests are being protected.

Of the 2,970 projects whose review was halted by provisions of the omnibus legislation that changed national environmental laws and eroded federal oversight of industrial development 638 were in Saskatchewan.

The cancelled reviews in this province range from relatively small projects such as building well-side access roads and emergency repairs to a sewage pumping station at a First Nation, to adding pipeline rights of way, expanding sewage lagoons, monitoring for avian flu by collecting swab samples from Arctic nesting geese, to even expanding Areva Resources' tailings pond at McClean Lake by 4.5 million cubic metres to extend its life by 25 years.

As Bram Noble, a University of Saskatchewan geography professor with experience in conducting national environmental assessments told The StarPhoenix on Friday, the decision to scrap the assessments is an unprecedented step backward and "a lot to be concerned about."

While the federal government counters that it's acting to make the process more efficient by removing overlapping environmental reviews, the overall signal being sent is that the entire process is being weakened to accommodate industry interests. It's something only reinforced by the Harper government's recent decision to reduce the number of scientists in key departments such as Fisheries and Oceans and by its well-earned reputation for muzzling the experts in its employ.

That the government's budget bill authorizes water pollution, weakens protection of threatened species, restricts public participation in reviews of industrial projects and subjects environmental groups to investigations merely adds context in assessing its decision that all 3,000 reviews are unnecessary.

The stance taken by federal Environment Minister Peter Kent at this summer's Rio+20 Summit, where he said Canada is a victim of "misinformation and mischaracterization" when it comes to balancing economic development needs with environmental policy, is indicative of a government mindset that doesn't seem to connect its actions with the consequences they bring.

He invited Canadian and international media to "take a good look at our domestic policies" in assessing this country's responsible resource development. A good look at these cancelled reviews does little to dispel the notion that the scales are tipped to one side.

The editorials that appear in this space represent the opinion of The StarPhoenix. They are unsigned because they do not necessarily represent the personal views of the writers. The positions taken in the editorials are arrived at through discussion among the members of the newspaper's editorial board, which operates independently from the news departments of the paper.

Original Article
Source: the star phoenix
Author: The StarPhoenix

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