Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claims that Bill C‑39 does not lower environmental standards.
Let us imagine a pipeline project in Quebec, like Marinvest. Under Bill C‑39, pipelines are exempt from environmental impact assessments. The only assessment will be the one completed by the energy regulator in Calgary, which has never seen a pipeline it did not like. Worse still, Ottawa wants to be able to allow proponents to start their work before the assessment is complete.
How can anyone claim that this is not a step backwards?