BC Green Party leader introduces legislation for ‘Environmental Bill of Rights’

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – Laying the ground rules for industry, while protecting the environment at the same time. That’s the aim of BC Green Party’s proposed Environmental Bill of Rights, which is being introduced in the Legislature today.

Party leader and Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA Andrew Weaver says the main reason he’s bringing this legislation forward is that he’s “no longer confident that the next generation of British Columbians will enjoy the same opportunities that we have today.”

“We often pit environmental values against industry initiatives against local citizens’ desires and rights. Really, we need a framework that can ensure that not every project is facing uphill battles dealing with the environment; that industry knows what the rules are; and that fundamentally, as a society, we believe and understand that protecting ithe environment is in all of our interests.”

He says an Environmental Bill of Rights would have five components.

“One is it outlines the rights and responsibilities of the BC government and its residents, when it comes to environmental decision-making. Number two, it creates a publicly accessible one-stop-shop for environmental information.

“Three, it ensures that all ministries consider the environmental impacts of their operations that they’re responsible for. Four, there’s whistle-blower legislation there to prevent or mitigate when whistleblowers stand up and point out that there are problems going on.

Finally, there’s the creation of an environmental commissioner, responsible for investigating violations, providing the opportunity to participate in and access the decision-making process.”

Weaver insists environmental protection is not necessarily an attack on industry. “This actually creates the rules in which industry can operate. They’ve been crying out for this; the last thing industry wants is uncertainty. They want to know what the rules are. They want to know what the penalties are. They want to know how they can do business in British Columbia.”

He says a version of the bill has been debated three times before in this province.

“The problem is what this government’s doing is it’s pitting the environment against industry and it doesn’t have to be that way,” he argues.

“This rhetoric that we hear from the province — ‘the forces of no,’ ‘get to yes’ no matter what the question is — it’s not helpful to anybody, despite the fact that it’s a great sound bite.”

Weaver points out Ontario, Quebec, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut each have their own “Environmental Bill of Rights” and says the idea has support within the Union of BC Municipalities.