With the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez worth of oil spilling into the U.S. Gulf every four days, you can't help but wonder about the timing of the Western Premiers in lobbying to reduce regulatory oversight in Canada - in large part for oil and gas projects.
A key part of President Obama's Oval Office address two days ago came when he said the U.S. needs an offshore regulator that "that acts as the oil industry's watchdog not its partner."
Here in Canada we have similar issues of coziness between our regulators and the oil and gas industry. This is evidenced in the fact that they barely ever say "no" to proposals. Another example is from a Canadian landowners group that recently attended a conference where they were surprised at the chummy relationship between regulators and the industry.
Will it take a similar BP-like disaster in Canada before we too get serious about regulatory independence? Meanwhile, will the gung-ho tar sands government in Ottawa go along with Stelmach et al at this time of heightened public anxiety over how industry is run? Let's see.
Matt Price
Policy Director
Environmental Defence
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Posts
