E-3695 Petition to the Government of Canada

This petition was presented to the House of Commons on May 17th, 2022 and the federal government has responded September 20 2022.

The petition read Whereas:

• The Government of Canada has made a commitment to carbon neutrality;
• Highly polluting industries often have the opposite impact;
• The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has guidelines for the use of explosives in or near Canadian fishing waters;
• There is a need to establish guidelines on all impacts (air, water, sound, shockwave) caused by the use of explosives near residential areas; and
• The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the federal government has the right to overrule provincial decisions on climate change issues, and Canada recently adopted legislation to respect the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:

1. Stop construction of all new facilities used by highly polluting industries, such as cement plants, nuclear waste facilities, factories, and so on, until there has been in-depth consultation (accepting refusal, if that is the case) with the indigenous communities whose natural surroundings will be affected by the project;

2. Request that a comprehensive review be conducted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on the impacts on wildlife if the construction project affects interprovincial or international waters; and

3. Request that a review be conducted by a neutral third party and not by firms hired by the companies attempting to build the projects, and that the costs of these reviews be paid for by those companies.

Response was received by the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, quoting the Fisheries Act, the Species at Risk Act, the Impact Assessment Act as mechanisms in place to consider potential impacts that large projects may have. 

Response was also received from the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Signed by The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, quoting the Impace Assessment Act as the federal law that provides for review of the environmental, health, social and economic impacts of major projects in Canada before they are implemented. It also includes their requirement to consult with the Indigenous People of Canada.

Their responses are very much in line with our request sent August 30th to Minister Steven Guilbeault, to Designate the L'Orignal Cement Project as a Designated Project under the Canadian Impact Assessment Act.

We are also aware that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have requested that Colacem file an application under the Fisheries Act concerning the cement plant project.

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