Member of Parliament for Lakeland and Shadow Minister for Rural Economic Affairs and Broadband, Shannon Stubbs is commending the Alberta Court of Appeal’s ruling on the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) also known as Bill C-69.
The court on Tuesday deemed the IAA as unconstitutional, stating it interferes with the power of the provinces. It termed the legislation as a “classic example of legislative creep.”
Stubbs says from the get go she saw Bill-C69 as making “it impossible for resource developers, and oil and gas companies in particular, to proceed with large-scale projects.”
She adds in a statement that the law ensures “that no new major resource infrastructure like pipelines would be proposed in Canada again because the rules for assessments create more uncertainty, duplication, and double standards, which would continue to drive money and jobs into other countries.”
The federal government is expected to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court of Canada, according to Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.
“Our view is the legislation is constitutional and we will be appealing.”
Legal scholarship also supports the view that the Supreme Court will reverse the Alberta court’s ruling similar to its stance last year on the federal carbon-pricing act.
