Tony Pearse, Vancouver Sun, December 17, 2011

Re: Environmental reviews need streamlining, Editorial, Dec. 10

The Vancouver Sun's editorial about streamlining environmental reviews comes across as boosterism for industrial growth at all costs.

Proponents may "have long complained" about delays in the assessment process, but their whining is misplaced. The record of both provincial and federal assessments show that in almost all cases the significant delays are caused by proponents.

For a recent example, the just approved Joslyn oilsands project had a delay of 1.5 years during its assessment because the proponent did not initially provide all the information required by the review panel and had to go and do more work. It is a common story.

Green party leader Elizabeth May is quite right to be worried by the recent changes made by the Harper government which do major damage to the rigour of the environmental assessment process and the capacity of the review agencies to do their job effectively.

Taseko's Prosperity mine did not "hang in limbo" for 17 years. Prosperity is such an egregiously destructive project that three successive federal ministers refused to even allow it to enter the federal assessment process. The company was told by the ministers not to even think about entering assessment until it had a mining proposal that did not destroy Fish Lake. No wasted time there.

TONY PEARSE
Mayne Island

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