Canadian Government Allowing Industry to Dictate Regulation

This timeline has been created to display the correlation of meetings between oil corporations and the federal government with environmental deregulation in Canada. It exposes the federal government's compliance with industry's requests for deregulation or delays to regulation by chronologically presenting evidence dating back to 2008. See four different timelines: Deregulation by Omnibus Bills, this shows the most prominent examples of deregulation by industry lobbying; In-situ Mining Projects, estimated to emit more greenhouse gases than surface mines; Lack of Railway Regulation, following the issue of increased oil transportation by rail without proper safety regulation; and Tar Sands Advertising, outlining the amount of money the Canadian government has spent on advertising positive aspects of the tar sands.

Much of the data displayed here has been collected through federal Access to Information legislation.

2008-04-01 00:25:26

Warning from Canadian TSB

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada recommended that: "The Department of Transport and the railway industry conduct in–depth studies on the behaviour of saturated organic materials under cyclic loading." - -R07–03

2009-03-01 07:52:28

Bill C-10

The 2009 Budget Implementation Act (551 pages in length).

2009-04-01 06:10:51

Study of in-situ developments

Researchers found that in-situ projects can have larger impacts on the landscape than surface mining.

2009-05-01 00:00:00

Council of Canadian Academies report

The Council of Canadian Academies released a report in 2009 stating there was a lack of understanding of in-situ tar sands operations and more underground injection sites should not be approved until operations are better understood.

2010-06-01 04:34:24

Concern From NRTEE

The National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy displayed concern about the groundwater use by in-situ operations and how it could potentially affect drawdown on fresh or shallow saline aquifers and change groundwater levels.

2010-06-01 06:10:51

Bill C-9

The 2010 Budget Implementation Bill (904 pages in length).

2011-03-01 06:10:51

"Allies" and "Adversaries"

In documents discovered by Greenpeace, the Federal government listed the oil industry as “allies” in the federal government’s Pan-European Oil Sands Advocacy Strategy, while environmental and Aboriginal groups were in the “adversaries” column.

2011-05-01 04:34:24

DFO Expresses Concern

The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) expressed new concerns over possible impacts on fish habitat from in-situ tar sands projects. These recommendations were not taken by the federal government when the amendments were made.

2011-05-01 21:40:04

DFO Requests CEAA to Delete Statement

CEAA made a statement which claimed as a result of DFO analysis of groundwater/surface water interaction there was no need for comprehensive studies under CEAA for in-situ projects. This is not an accurate reflection of the DFO’s position with respect to its regulatory reviews of in-situ projects.

2011-10-01 06:10:51

Lobbying from CEPA

The Canadian Energy Pipelines Association (CEPA) arranged a meeting to lobby top Foreign Affairs officials.

2011-12-01 06:10:51

CEPA Meeting

The Aboriginal Relations Working Group of CEPA hosted a meeting in Calgary for federal officials from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, Natural Resources Canada, Transport Canada, the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

2011-12-01 06:10:51

EFI letter

The Energy Framework Initiative (EFI) wrote a letter to the Environment Minister Peter Kent and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver.

2012-06-01 06:10:51

Bill C-38

The 2012 Budget Implementation Bill (452 pages in length).

2012-07-01 06:10:51

3,000 Screenings Cancelled

The budget legislation forced the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to cancel nearly 3,000 screenings.

2012-12-01 06:10:51

Bill C-45

The second Omnibus Budget Bill of 2012 (430 pages in length).

2012-12-10 04:34:24

NRC and ConocoPhilips meeting

Greenpeace obtained a briefing note prepared for a meeting between officials from Natural Resources Canada and ConocoPhilips that discussed the CEAA 2010 Project List and the intention for it to not cover in-situ projects.

2013-01-07 00:28:31

Mikisew Cree Ask for Judicial Review

Two First Nations from the tar sands region of Alberta announced they were asking for a judicial review of the environmental provisions in the budget bills based on section 35 of the Canadian Constitution.

2013-02-01 00:28:31

$9 Million in Advertising

Natural Resources Canada set their 2012-2013 fiscal year budget at $9 million to advertise Canadian resource industries.

2013-03-01 06:10:51

CAPP Lobbying

In the spring of 2013 memos from Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers circulated at meetings between the federal and provincial governments, and industry.

2013-03-01 06:10:51

CN Rail Meeting

In March of 2013 there was a meeting held between Natural Resources Canada deputy minister Michael Keenan and CN Rail assistant vice president David Miller.

2013-05-01 00:28:31

Increased to $16.5 Million

The Canadian government increases it’s spending on tar sands advertising from $9 million to $16.5 million a few months later.

2013-07-01 06:10:51

Consolidation of DFO Libraries

Due to budget cuts it was announced in July 2013 that eleven Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) regional libraries were to be shut down.

2013-07-06 06:10:51

Lac-Megantic Derailment

A 72-car train derailed in Lac-Megantic resulted in explosions that killed 47 people, destroyed 40 buildings, and spilled approximately 5.6 million liters of crude oil in the town, lake, and river.

2013-07-23 04:34:24

NDP Motion Voted Down

The Conservatives used their majority on the House of Commons Transport Committee to vote down an NDP motion to examine rail safety in light of the Lac-Megantic tragedy.

2013-10-01 00:28:31

The Project List Release

The final list of projects subject to the new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act was announced and in-situ oil sands were absent.

2013-10-01 00:28:31

EC Predicts Dangers

Environment Canada has projected that growing in-situ tar sands production will be the single largest source of new GHG emissions in the country.

2013-10-01 00:28:31

$40 Million in Advertising

The federal government announced it will spend $40 million to advertise Canada’s natural resource sector, primarily oil and gas, both nationally and internationally.

2013-10-19 00:00:00

Derailment in Alberta

A derailment of 13 cars carrying crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas went off the tracks in Alberta, 80 kilometers west of Edmonton. The fires lasted for two days.

2013-11-01 06:10:51

No GHG regulation from Ottawa

The Canadian government had planned to release draft GHG regulations by July 1. It has yet to be issued.

2014-01-01 00:28:31

PR Firm Hired for $22 Million

The federal government hired FleishmanHillard, an international public relations firm, to advertise the tar sands and Canada’s natural resource sector worldwide for an estimated $22 million.

2014-01-07 00:00:00

Derailment in NB

A train carrying propane and crude oil from Toronto was derailed in Northern New Brunswick on route to Saint John.

Canadian Government Allowing Industry to Dictate Regulation

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