Cooperative Federalism in the Service of Citizens
Federal Bill C-69 on environmental impact assessment
April 14, 2018   Jean-Marc Fournier – Government House Leader
and Minister responsible for Canadian Relations and the Canadian
Francophonie
Citizens have a right to expect their democratically elected
governments to collaborate in the application of their respective laws
in the common interest and for our collective future.
On February 8, the federal government tabled Bill C-69 with the goal of
improving its environmental impact assessment process.
The Government of Québec modernized its Environmental Quality Act
one year ago. We adopted a clear authorization regime that is
foreseeable, optimized and compliant with the highest standards in the
area of environmental protection. To foster project acceptability, it is
indeed of the utmost importance that the processes be clear and
known from the moment projects are designed and before they are
even presented. In addition, it should also be clear that a project is
subject to both provincial and federal environmental assessments: this
cannot depend only on the federal government or the developer.
It is also indisputable that governments must collaborate in analysing
projects that concern more than one Canadian jurisdiction. The new
Québec legislation in fact provides for the implementation of
collaboration mechanisms in order to coordinate the environmental
assessment procedures when necessary, and these mechanisms
include the establishment of a unified procedure – based on the “one
project, one assessment” principle, which avoids duplication. As early
as 2004, Québec and the federal government had entered into a
collaboration agreement, which was renewed in 2010, and which
provides for cooperative environmental assessments to be carried out
through a coordinated process, so as to ensure compliance with both
Québec and federal legislation. Unfortunately, such joint work tends to
take place on an ad hoc basis, and some developers mistakenly believe
that the laws of a single jurisdiction apply.
No project located in part or as a whole on the territory of one province
should avoid compliance with the environmental legislation adopted by
the parliament of that province. Developing an aerodrome, expanding
a port area, or building a pipeline are examples of projects that
concern both the provincial and federal governments: such projects
must be subject to a unified procedure to minimize delays, to ensure

 compliance with the legislation of both governments, and to secure
both provincial and federal approvals, so as to enhance their social
acceptability.
In evaluating such projects, the federal government should pledge to
work with the provinces that are impacted by their implementation. Bill
C-69 must explicitly provide that developers are not exempt from
obtaining the authorizations required under provincial legislation.
Developers must be made aware that their projects will be examined in
this manner. The recent assertions of federal representatives regarding
the Trans Mountain pipeline, which refer to an exclusive application of
federal rules, are detrimental to a proper resolution of this issue and
raise concerns for the future. Moreover, they encourage developers to
ignore provincial environmental rules which were adopted in the
interest of citizens who are concerned or impacted by the
implementation of these projects. Ignoring provincial legislation in no
way fosters social acceptability.
When a project falling under the federal Parliament’s jurisdiction is
carried out on the territory of a province, it is clear that the legislation
enacted by both governments must apply, without however duplicating
procedures.
This requirement may be justified by the need to engage in a
cooperative federalism for the benefit of taxpayers, who are entitled to
expect the two governments to work together as efficiently as possible.
More importantly, it may be justified as a prerequisite to social
acceptability, the importance of which has been emphasized by Prime
Minister Trudeau himself.
The question is, how can one hope to secure social acceptability in
situations where a community has no guarantee that the laws adopted
by the provincial parliament it has elected, including laws governing
environmental protection and land use, will be enforced?
A federally-imposed solution cannot resolve this matter. The federal
government should instead collaborate with the governments of the
provinces involved and agree on a joint assessment process that will
ensure respect of both provincial and federal jurisdictions, and
therefore of the democratic choices of all Canadians. True cooperative
federalism in the service of citizens requires nothing less.