The record level of public engagement shown in the recent BC government consultations on cosmetic pesticides (8,700 people) shows that democracy is alive and well in BC. Whether you were one of the thousands of people who made their views known in that consultation or not, why not raise your voice for the environment in one of the other public consultations that the government is carrying out?  Right now you can make your views known on the government's proposed, sweeping "Environmental Mitigation Policy" and/or on a program to fund energy efficiency retro-fits through the energy savings that they generate. 

What began as a smear campaign against West Coast Environmental Law and other environmental groups has crossed a line with oil industry advocates EthicalOil.org and Ezra Levant (author of the book Ethical Oil) taking aim at the thousands of ordinary Canadians who have registered to express their concerns about the proposed Northern Gateway Pipelines - attacking them as "foreigners".  The truth is that somewhere in the neighbourhood of 99% – of the registrants are Canadians – with a large proportion from northern cities and towns of British Columbia – from the very communities most directly affected by the proposed pipelines and tanker traffic.  We hope that the about  4,500 Canadians and (a handful of) non-Canadians will not allow themselves to be intimidated by Ethical Oil’s misinformation campaign.

Recently the federal Ministers of the Environment and of Natural Resources have publicly confirmed that major changes may be in the works for federal environmental assessment (EA). And by all indications Canadians should be worried. Based on statements made in an open letter released January 9th, federal Natural Resources Minister Oliver appears to view the democratic right of citizens to be heard and the constitutional right of First Nations to be honourably consulted about, for example, large inter-provincial oil pipeline and tanker terminal projects as merely ‘exploiting loopholes’ in and ‘hijacking’ the regulatory process (which is designed to allow citizen participation) to achieve ‘radical’ agendas.

West Coast Environmental Law congratulates the Tsilhqot’in First Nation on its most recent court win in its efforts to protect Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) from the development of Taseko’s Prosperity (now called “New Prosperity”) mine.  Last week lawyers for the Tsilhqot’in and Taseko tangled in court, with the Tsilhqot’in coming away with the main prize: a court order preventing Taseko’s mining exploration activities related to the “New” Prosperity mine.  Justice Grauer of the BC Supreme Court agreed with the Tsilhqot’in’s lawyers that the First Nation had not been adequately consulted before the exploration permits were granted by the BC government and that the exploration activities would impact the environment and the Tsilhqot’in’s Aboriginal rights.  The court order is good for 90 days, with the possibility of renewal, during which time the Tsilhqot’in are seeking a judicial review of the validity of the permits themselves.

Today, November 7, 2011, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency) announced that Taseko Mine Ltd.’s gold and copper mine proposal, New Prosperity, will undergo a federal environmental assessment.

As we have explained, we do not think that the New Prosperity proposal is anything more than a re-packaging of the previously assessed and vehemently rejected option two of the original Prosperity Mine proposal and thus we are disappointed to learn that additional time and resources will be spent further assessing this proposed project.

In a recent story we reported that Mr. Jason Quigley, formerly of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, was now employed by Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI), and raised concerns that there might be an appearance that this employment relationship would assist Taseko Mines Ltd., a company connected with HDI, in getting government approvals for its controversial New Prosperity Mine.

We received a letter from HDI yesterday clarifying the terms of Mr. Quigley's employment, which has prompted us to make a further statement. 

[Update October 19th, 2011 - See our more recent post on this subject] While Taseko’s “New Prosperity” mine may be “new” in name only, the companies involved do have at least one “new” employee. Jason T. Quigley is now the Executive Vice President of Regulatory and Stakeholder Affairs of Taseko Mines Ltd.’s parent company, Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI). Until recently, Quigley was employed as the Regional Director for the Pacific and Yukon Regional Office of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA), and for at least some of the that time CEAA was involved in the environmental assessment of the original Prosperity mine proposal.  Is Quigley's employment move one more example of a revolving door between industry and government?