Feds aim to boost clean air, but slash environmental protection budgets.
OTTAWA — The federal government is adding millions of dollars in new spending to support its "clean air agenda" and boost Canada's environmental reputation on the world stage, while dramatically decreasing funding to clean up industrial development projects, according to estimates tabled Tuesday in the House of Commons.
The projections do not include potential spending cuts anticipated across federal departments in the upcoming budget, but reveal that the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the government centre of expertise for ensuring that industrial projects do not harm natural ecosystems, is already expected to see its funding reduced by 43 per cent from about $30 million last year to about $17 million in 2012-2013.
"The agency's decrease in net spending of $13 million is due to a decrease in operating costs of $10.8 million and a decrease in contributions of $2.2 million," the government said in the estimates.
The decrease includes a reduction of $2.2 million in funding for consultations with aboriginal groups and funding to help citizens do research and preparations to participate effectively in an environmental assessment process.
Meantime, the government is adding $90.3 million in new spending at Environment Canada to support what it describes as its "clean air agenda." This would provide resources for potential regulations to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from industry as part of the federal government's climate-change policies. But the information in the spending estimates also said the money would be "providing a platform to deepen engagement with the United States on climate-change issues and enhancing Canada's visibility as an international leader in clean-energy technology."
The federal government has set aside millions of dollars in funding for its "clean air agenda" over the past few years, without introducing any regulations to crack down on emissions from industrial facilities. But it has adopted some new regulations, in partnership with the United States, such as measures to reduce tailpipe emissions from new cars, as well as regulations to promote biofuels by increasing the renewable content of transportation fuels.
"At this stage, without knowing what that money is intended for, it's hard to know the impact that it will have," said Gillian McEachern, deputy campaign director at Environmental Defence, a Toronto-based conservation group. "If it means the government is going to beef up efforts to put in place rules around greenhouse-gas emissions than that's a positive step. If it means the government is going to use it to beef up its ongoing public relations campaign in Europe and the U.S. to try to convince other countries that Canada's tarsands are being cleaned up than that's a bad investment for taxpayers."
A spokeswoman for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, Isabelle Perrault, said some of its funding was winding down "as part of a normal process," related to investments announced in 2007 to launch a new federal office to co-ordinate environmental assessments as well as supporting aboriginal consultation. She was not immediately able to provide further details.
The office of Environment Minister Peter Kent was also not able to immediately provide a more detailed explanation of its spending estimates.
NDP environment critic Megan Leslie warned that some reductions could be more serious as part of the government's efforts to reduce its deficit. But after a preliminary look at the estimates, she said the numbers, including projected reductions in funding for environmental assessments, suggested the government was developing "one big PR program" instead of a comprehensive energy and environment plan.
"They actually don't want a robust environmental assessment process, because it might call into question some of the things they're streamlining and fast-tracking," Leslie said.