Strengthen Major Projects safeguards
Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to ensure Major Projects reforms strengthen, not weaken, species-at-risk and aquatic and avian habitat protections; require transparent impact analyses, permit longer assessments, and guarantee Indigenous and community consultation.
Why we would sign this petition
- It would prevent proposed changes that could bypass species‑protection rules, helping to uphold Canada’s biodiversity commitments and slow further species and habitat decline.
- It would require clear, public analyses of environmental consequences and mitigation measures so decision‑makers and communities can assess likely harms before approval.
- It would allow more time for full impact assessments and meaningful Indigenous and community consultations prior to construction, reducing the risk of unaddressed environmental harm.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- It could prolong review timelines and raise costs for major projects, delaying potential economic or infrastructure benefits.
- Stricter rules and longer assessments might block projects even where impacts could be managed or where proponents argue urgent need.
- The petition offers few specific trade‑offs or mechanisms to balance environmental protection and project feasibility, which could create legal uncertainty or impede workable reforms.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA WHEREAS: Canada's forests, waters, prairies, biodiversity, and all natural resources are under shared stewardship by and for Canadians, Indigenous peoples, and future generations. Canada has agreed to maintain, enhance, or restore the integrity, connectivity and resilience of all ecosystems and to increase abundance of native species to healthy levels by 2050 and to reduce the negative impact of pollution from all sources by 2030 (Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework). The state of nature in Canada continues to degrade. According to government data, when recently reassessed: 79% of species at risk are at the same or higher level of risk, 61% of the populations for species at risk show no or mixed evidence of progress toward objectives set by the government, and 25% of fish stocks with known status are in the "Critical Zone" subject to serious harm. The recent Discussion Paper for Major Projects proposes changes that would circumvent environmental legislation and regulations built to protect our lands, water, species, and natural resources, by: (1) granting authority to Cabinet to approve a project even if it would drive a species to extinction, by exempting the project from the Species at Risk Act's ‘jeopardy clause'; (2) permitting "disposal at sea", destruction of fish habitat, and adjusting environmental conditions "as needed" in a "more flexible" fashion; (3) allowing project approval and initial construction, in some cases, before impacts are assessed; and (4) imposing a fixed time of one year for considering a project prior to a decision, regardless of the extent of time and information necessary to conduct a fulsome evaluation. THEREFORE: We, the undersigned, a group of Canadian citizens and residents who are concerned about protecting nature in Canada, respectfully call upon of the Government of Canada to: 1. Ensure that any Major Projects legislation, regulations, and policy reforms fully uphold Canada's biodiversity commitments and strengthen, not weaken, the protections in place for species at risk, fish habitat, migratory birds, and other ecological values. 2. Provide a clear and transparent analysis of the consequences of adjusting the impact assessment and environmental conditions for projects and how negative impacts on the environment will be mitigated. 3. Continue to evaluate all substantive risks and harms to the environment of Major Projects, even if the evaluation takes longer than the proposed one-year time period, allowing construction only after harms have been minimized or mitigated and all impact assessments and permits have been completed. 4. Ensure that consultations with Indigenous Peoples and affected communities are held with full access to all relevant information, including information contained in the permit applications and impact assessments, and with sufficient time for full consultation.
Government response
No government response is available yet.