Alberta takes ‘No More Pipelines’ law to court for second time

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Ottawa will be taken to court for a second time over the “unconstitutional” Impact Assessment Act, formerly known as Bill C-69.

Though the Trudeau government amended the bill, Smith says it “contains some clever word games, but still ultimately gives the federal government control over projects that fall under Alberta’s exclusive jurisdiction.” 

The 2019 federal Impact Assessment Act, legislated environmental, economic or social impact assessments as part of the approval process for infrastructure projects. The province has asked the Alberta Court of Appeal to rule on its constitutionality, reported Global News.

A Supreme Court ruling last year prompted the Trudeau government to scale back its authority to exclude areas of provincial jurisdiction.

Smith’s announcement follows a potential legal challenge to what is essentially a federal production cap on Alberta's once-thriving oil and gas sector. “Ottawa seems to think that they need to save us from ourselves, but they are wrong,” she told reporters on Tuesday.

Smith maintains the amendments don’t go far enough to respect the constitutional divisions of power. “The prime minister should know better by now than to think that we are bluffing, and we’re confident that we are once again on the right side of this legal challenge,” she said.

Another major amendment proposed by Alberta, though ultimately ignored, was to exempt a project’s greenhouse gas emissions from consideration during assessments.

The premier also took issue with the lack of clarity surrounding what instances would require federal review and approval. 

In a joint statement, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson claimed the amendments did address the Supreme Court ruling.

“It follows closely the opinion of the Supreme Court of Canada who confirmed the jurisdictional role of the federal government on environmental and Indigenous areas of responsibility,” the statement reads.

“Smith advocates for an even worse approach than the flawed process of [former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government], which resulted in so many projects tied up in the courts.”

The ministers say the legal challenges would upend dozens of projects, including four in Alberta, representing billions of dollars and hundreds of potential jobs.

“We want to ensure as much clarity, certainty and predictability as possible for projects, which Premier Smith threatens with her reckless political games,” the statement reads.

Smith countered that federal involvement to approve projects should be quick and minimal, which becomes a reality if Guilbeault no longer approves or denies projects being assessed.

“I think that’s a real problem with the Impact Assessment Act as it stands today,” Mickey Amery, Alberta’s Minister of Justice, said Thursday. “To have a federal minister have the discretion to approve a project that falls within the jurisdiction of our provinces is inappropriate and irresponsible,” he added.

Amery could not provide a cost estimate for the pending legal action, noting the taxpayer bill depends on how long it sits before the courts.

Alberta has 10 ongoing cases and judicial reviews before the courts related to federal policy, from the federal gun legislation to fertilizer rules, Amery said.

Alex Dhaliwal

Calgary Based Journalist

Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.