Alberta premier draws line in sand over Impact Assessment Act changes

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said October 4 her government is prepared to launch another constitutional challenge of the federal Impact Assessment Act(IAC) within four weeks if Ottawa doesn’t address the province’s concerns surrounding the legislation.

In October 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCOC) ruled much of the IAC unconstitutional since it infringed on areas of provincial jurisdiction. In June this year, Ottawa passed amendments to the IAC which it said address the SCOC’s concerns.

But in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Smith insists Alberta was not consulted about the amendments before they were passed, nor do the changes address its issues with the IAC or correct the constitutional deficiencies identified by the SCOC.

“The federal government continues to play politics and cater to activists with the amendments passed in July,” Smith said. “The Supreme Court of Canada agreed with us in its ruling of a year ago, but it is clear the federal government is unwilling to acknowledge its gross overreach.”

The amendments, passed as part of a larger omnibus bill, still leave the IAC unconstitutional and still allow the federal government to encroach into areas of provincial jurisdiction.

And the act continues to create uncertainty for major infrastructure projects by allowing Ottawa “to derail, delay and interfere in virtually any project.”

To address its concerns surrounding the IAC, Alberta wants Ottawa to allow the provinces to substitute their own impact assessments for federal assessments, create concrete timelines for regulatory assessments, curbing ministerial discretion to accept or reject any recommendations flowing from assessments and focus the public interest decision-making process on “significant adverse effects” under federal jurisdiction and on “countervailing” positive effects.

“Alberta’s concerns with the Impact Assessment Act must be addressed immediately for the legislation to be constitutionally compliant,” said Mickey Amery, Alberta’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General. “Should the federal government insist on ignoring the clear issues identified by the Supreme Court of Canada, Alberta is prepared to bring forward another legal challenge to defend our jurisdiction.”

Alberta also wants power plants, LNG terminals and other hydrocarbon-related facilities removed from the project list under which developments are flagged as subject to a federal impact assessment.