Alberta Senator Doug Black believes the Canadian government wants Bill C-69 to pass to stop development in the oilsands.
Bill C-69, An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, inserts divisive identity politics into the pipeline approval process and will make it all but impossible to approve future energy projects.
“There will be no new development in the oilsands. Many would argue that’s the very intent of the legislation,” Black said. “I believe there are parts of the government that believe that would be a desirable outcome.
If passed, the bill, which is currently working its way through the Senate, will radically change the process by which projects like pipelines are approved.
Among other things, the “intersection between sex and gender” will have to be considered in the pipeline approval process, and special interest groups will have the ability to delay projects indefinitely in the consultation stage.
Black isn’t the only one feeling resentment towards the current government over its energy policies.
Many Canadians in the west have also voiced their concerns and fear the government is intentionally working against the energy sector, a driving force of the Canadian economy.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once told a crowd that Canada needs to “phase out” the oilsands.
Trudeau’s principal secretary, Gerald Butts, has long desired to see the end of the Canadian energy sector.
“We don’t think there should be a carbon-based energy industry by the middle of this century,” he said in 2012.
Speaking about the Northern Gateway pipeline, Butts said “the real alternative is not an alternative route. It’s an alternative economy.”
Senator Black attributes this bill to the federal government not knowing what’s happening in Alberta, adding the committee reviewing the bill should speak to Albertans on the ground.
“You don’t hear it here in Ottawa. You don’t see it, you don’t feel it in Ottawa, so this is very important,” he said.“Of course, there’s a cost (to travel), but the cost of the Canadian economy of not getting this right is literally trillions of dollars.
