OTTAWA—Major new energy projects will have to be assessed and either approved or denied within two years under a massive new national assessment bill being introduced in the House of Commons. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, who tabled the 341-page Impact Assessment Act, says it will provide clarity and certainty about how the process works, what companies need to do, and why and how decisions are made. Over $500 billion in major resource projects are planned across Canada in the next decade, McKenna told a news conference as she announced the new bill. “These projects would mean tens of thousands of well-paying jobs cross the country, and they would provide an economic boost for communities and our economy as a whole,” McKenna said. “But we cannot get there without better rules to guide our decisions about resource development.”

Source: thestar February 08, 2018 17:37 UTC