An academic is voicing concern over some proposed changes to Canada’s environmental assessment process.
Ottawa says it wants to streamline the review process for major economic projects in order to cut through red tape.
The move is expected to slash the number of environmental review bodies from around 40 to just a handful.
Will Amos is the director of the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Ottawa.
He says the government also wants to change who can attend hearings on those projects:
“Federal environmental assessment processes would only be open for public consultation for those people who were “directly affected” — and that would represent a significant narrowing of public groups who would be eligible to participate.”
Amos speculates this could affect people living downstream from an industrial project hundreds of kilometres away, or for people worried about issues such as acid rain.