Senators passed Bill C-69, which overhauls the federal environmental assessment process for major construction projects, by a vote of 57-37. They also approved — just barely — Bill C-48, legislation barring oil tankers from loading at ports on the northern coast of British Columbia. That bill passed on a vote of 49-46, only narrowly escaping defeat. The two bills have together become a flashpoint between the Liberals and Conservatives over how Canada can protect the environment without driving investment away from the fossil-fuel sector. C-69 imposes more requirements for consulting affected Indigenous communities, widens public participation in the review process and requires climate change to be considered when major natural resource-exploitation and transportation projects are being evaluated. It applies to a wide range of projects including interprovincial pipelines, highways, mines and power links. The Senate made more than 200 amendments to that bill earlier this month, but the government accepted only 99 of them, mostly to do with reducing ministerial discretion to intervene in the review process READ HERE
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