Alberta taking federal government to court over revised impact assessment law

The federal Impact Assessment Act determines whether major resource projects should be approved based on the environmental, economic or social impact each project might have.

Alberta is taking the federal government to court, saying Ottawa has failed to follow through on what Premier Danielle Smith calls necessary changes to a law governing resource development.

The federal Impact Assessment Act, enacted in 2019, determines whether certain major resource projects should be approved based on the environmental, economic or social impact each project might have.

Smith said Thursday the province has asked the Alberta Court of Appeal to rule on the constitutionality of the act, which was amended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government earlier this year.

Those amendments came after the Supreme Court ruled last year that the broad authority it grants to the federal government needed to be scaled back, especially the authority to regulate projects that fall under provincial jurisdiction.

Smith’s announcement comes nearly two months after she issued Ottawa an ultimatum to make a number of further changes or else face legal action.

Smith told reporters that the government failed to make the amendments she requested, and the amendments approved earlier this year didn’t go far enough to bring the legislation in line with the constitutional division of powers between levels of government.

“Their amendments contain some clever word games, but still ultimately gave the federal government control over projects that fall under Alberta’s exclusive jurisdiction,” she said.

Some of the amendments Smith said “did nothing to address Alberta’s concerns” include definitional changes for what level, and scope, of potential impact a project must have to require federal review and approval that makes the onus of proof stiffer for Ottawa.