There is a rather natural logic to why the federal government should have clear and non-political rules regarding Canada's environment.
For the most part, Canadians don't want to see freshwater resources either polluted or squandered. They don't want to see the air we all breathe full of contaminants. And, we believe, Canadians don't want political leaders making irreversible decisions on mega-projects that may pollute either our water or air without getting some pretty comprehensive feedback and looking at science-based data.
Last week, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said two things that should wave red flags for Canadians.
Firstly he said that people who are not "directly affected" by projects should not be able to attend hearings or have their say on such projects - such as the Northern Gateway pipeline.
The second thing he said was, "we believe the ultimate decision should be in the hands of elected officials and not appointed officials, because ultimately, through Parliament, elected officials are responsible to the people."
Well, that's all well and good for issues like raising taxes and building more prisons - after all, you can always drop taxes and tear down prisons. But the environment is another matter altogether.
When federal politicians want to approve a pipeline which has a permanent impact on the environment - there's simply no going back. Who cares if Joe Blow loses the next election because he pushed an environmentally disastrous megaproject through? It will be a done deal, and, not surprisingly, the pipeline will remain even if Joe Blow doesn't.
And what about "directly affected"? Every Canadian who breathes air and drinks water is ultimately "directly affected" by any projects which can impact the air and/or water.
Air and water respect no dotted lines on our maps. While politicians may view development as 'local' issues - that's just not how nature works.
It is appalling that the government in its rush to approve projects is willing to gamble with our environment.
