Canada Undertakes Review of Environmental Policies to Restore Public Trust

A broad-brush review of Canada’s environmental regulatory policies has been initiated in an attempt to restore protections for fisheries, navigation and to upgrade the nation’s energy board, ministers and lawmakers in Parliament announced in a release.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seeking greater scrutiny of environmental impacts of projects, such as the development of oil sands in the province of Alberta and promotion of oil pipelines, including the Keystone XL pipeline, that were advocated by the previous Conservative government.

"The review of Canada’s environmental and regulatory processes will ensure that decisions are based on science, facts and evidence," Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna stated in the release.

The Obama administration has blocked construction of the Keystone XL project that is intended to transport heavy crude oil from Alberta to refineries along the US Gulf of Mexico coast.