B.C. is moving to alter its environmental assessment process to front-load dispute resolution and codify how it deals with U.S. Indigenous groups with cross-border concerns.
Environment and Parks Minister Tamara Davidson said the previous system, created in 2018, wasn’t working well enough for First Nations, industry or the assessment office itself. These amendments make the system work as intended and “enhance predictability” in the process, she said when introducing a bill in the legislature to make the changes.
“We’re making it easier and clearer on what issues will be discussed, at the start of the process,” Davidson told reporters afterward.
She said that the way disputes are resolved will not be changed beyond the alterations to when disputes are identified.
Other changes in Davidson’s bill would set standards for the involvement of U.S. tribes in the assessment process based on the 2021 Supreme Court of Canada decision holding that Indigenous groups in America can have existing Aboriginal rights protected under Section 35 of the Constitution Act.
These nations would not be added as participating nations in the process itself, but instead provide a way for those groups to inform the B.C. government that they have interests at stake. Davidson called it an “off-ramp” to allow the province to deal with them directly.
“We want to respect those rights, but we don’t want to do it within this process,” she said. “It’s just not appropriate.”
The environmental assessment office is working on a transition plan, and Davidson said it is likely that some projects would continue under the old system, while others would be transitioned to the new.