Learn English with Honourable Minister of Environment and Indigenous Affairs, Shelly Saviell, who delivers the Prime Minister's statement on the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling on the Impact Assessment Act and its application to major projects in Canada.
00:00:00.240Today we accept the court's opinion. It provides new guidance on the Impact Assessment Act,
00:00:06.080while explicitly affirming the right of the Government of Canada to put in place
00:00:10.240impact assessment legislation and collaborate with provinces on environmental protection.
00:00:15.840We developed the Impact Assessment Act to create a better set of rules that respect the environment,
00:00:21.040Indigenous rights, and ensure projects get assessed in a timely way. We remain committed
00:00:27.360to these principles and we are heartened that the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed our role on
00:00:32.960these core principles. We will now take this back and work quickly to improve the legislation through
00:00:38.720Parliament. We will continue to build on 50 years of federal leadership and impact assessment.
00:00:44.880We respect the role of the Supreme Court in Canada's democracy and we will follow the guidance of the
00:00:50.560court and collaborate with provinces and Indigenous groups to ensure an impact assessment process that
00:00:56.960works for all Canadian. Our immediate priority will be to provide guidance to our many stakeholders
00:01:02.720and Indigenous partners to ensure as much predictability as possible for projects affected
00:01:08.480by this opinion. We fully understand that we need to act in a timely manner. The Government of Canada
00:01:14.960wants to ensure clarity and certainty for investment in projects this country needs. This is exactly what
00:01:21.440what the previous Harper Government and senior ministers like Pierre Polievre failed to provide.
00:01:28.400So now we will return to our homework and commit today to address this quickly and continue to make
00:01:34.080Canada an attractive and predictable place to invest in good, sustainable projects as we create and
00:01:40.000protect middle-class jobs in advance on a path of reconciliation. Thank you.
00:01:44.400The majority of the Court confirmed that Parliament can enact impact assessment legislation to,
00:01:50.080and I quote the Court's decision, minimize the risks that some major projects pose to the environment,
00:01:55.040unquote. The Court found that the Impact Assessment Act is constitutional in part, but that in some
00:02:01.120instances the language in the Act needs to be more closely tethered to areas of federal jurisdiction.
00:02:07.200We, of course, accept the direction provided by the Court and we will be bringing forward the necessary
00:02:12.640amendments. Prior to 2015, under the Harper Government's environmental assessment process,
00:02:18.560projects consistently got bogged down in years-long litigation because the old system failed to take
00:02:24.560into account how proposed projects could impact the environment and the climate, and it failed to
00:02:30.320incorporate the concerns, the perspectives, and the aspirations of Indigenous peoples.
00:02:35.360Good projects simply took too long or simply could not be built. Harper's gutting of Canada's
00:02:40.480environmental assessment process in 2012 eroded public trust and confidence in the integrity of the
00:02:46.400system. That is why during the 2015 election, our government committed to work with industry,
00:02:52.480environmental organizations, and Indigenous peoples across the country to establish a new
00:02:56.960environmental assessment process and agency, the Impact Assessment Act and the Impact Assessment
00:03:02.080Agency of Canada, to review major projects. This new process established a set of better rules,
00:03:09.600rules that would ensure that Indigenous perspectives were included at the beginning of the review process,
00:03:14.880rules that guaranteed that important environmental concerns were highlighted and were addressed,
00:03:20.880and rules that provided clear timelines to ensure good projects could be built in this country in a
00:03:25.840timely manner. The Impact Assessment Act recognizes what the vast majority of Canadians know, that we should
00:03:33.600indeed be building major projects in a timely manner and that to do so requires the active inclusion of
00:03:39.360Indigenous peoples and a focus on environmental sustainability. And while Canada must indeed
00:03:45.120continue to work to make our processes work as effectively and efficiently as possible, I would note that
00:03:50.080already many of our international allies look to Canada as providing a model of how regulatory processes
00:03:55.840should work. In fact, in very recent conversations I have had with both my Australian and my American
00:04:01.760counterparts, they have told me that they look through Canada to learn how to improve their own
00:04:06.320regulatory systems. As of May 2023, there are 495 major projects in various stages of development,
00:04:13.920many of which are critical minerals and clean energy projects that are under construction or planned for
00:04:18.640construction over the next number of years in this country. These projects have a combined capital value
00:04:23.920of $572 billion, which represents a 5% increase from 2022 in overall project count and a 10% jump in capital value.
00:04:34.240Progress is indeed being made. As I noted at the beginning of my remarks, the Supreme Court has found that in a few
00:04:40.080specific areas, adjustments to the Act are necessary to make it clear that the legislation is more closely tethered to areas of federal jurisdiction.
00:04:47.440But overall, the Court confirmed that the Federal Government has the authority to regulate assessments of major projects.
00:04:54.480We will indeed be making amendments to the Act based on the Court's guidance. We will continue to focus on upholding
00:05:00.400high environmental standards and respecting the rights and the interests of Indigenous peoples,
00:05:04.800all while providing clarity and certainty for project proponents.
00:05:09.440In the global competition for investment, Canada's project review process can be an important strategic advantage.
00:05:15.280Such a review process must allow us to move good projects forward in an efficient manner.
00:05:21.600But one cannot do that by ignoring legitimate questions and concerns relating to the environment
00:05:27.040and to Indigenous rights. Ultimately, our approach will mean more investments and more well-paying jobs
00:05:32.320in communities. It means accelerated progress towards ensuring Canada is a global leader in the clean economy.
00:05:40.000I must underscore that Pierre Polyev and his Conservative Party want to return us to a time when
00:05:45.040nothing got built. They want to once again ignore environmental considerations and the rights and
00:05:50.880the interests of Indigenous peoples. Their approach will create uncertainty and gridlock which will
00:05:56.000undermine the future prosperity of all Canadians. This Federal Government will build upon the work done
00:06:01.920to date. As I noted, we will be bringing forward necessary changes to the law to align with the Court's decision,
00:06:07.600and we will continue to make project assessment and permitting processes work even more thoughtfully
00:06:12.240and more efficiently. We will continue to collaborate with provinces and territories as we are doing
00:06:18.240through mechanisms like the Regional Energy and Resource Tables where we are talking about regulatory
00:06:22.720and permitting alignment. And we will continue to work with Indigenous peoples to ensure that they are
00:06:27.760treated not as passive observers, but as active partners and owners as we build a clean economy from coast to coast to coast.
00:06:35.520Before I conclude, I just want to acknowledge and thank the many interveners who stood with the
00:06:40.880Federal Government to defend this crucial piece of legislation ranging from my province here of
00:06:46.000British Columbia to 11 First Nations to the First Nations Major Projects Coalition and to numerous
00:06:51.920environmental organizations. And to the provinces and territories who brought this lawsuit forward,
00:06:56.800I would suggest that we collectively commit to this being the last time we look to settle our differences in court.