With shock, I read that changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act mean a number of projects here on Vancouver Island - and across Canada - will go ahead without federal assessment.
But more shocking is the rationale given by a Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency spokeswoman: that the changes will affect only "small, routine projects that pose little or no risk to the environment."
Isn't the whole point of an environmental assessment to determine if a project poses a risk to the environment? How can people therefore make a predetermination that a project poses "little or no risk" without an assessment? The environment and the many small ecosystems of which it is composed can be incredibly complex and are often incredibly sensitive.
Small and supposedly routine projects can have big environmental impacts - impacts that affect both place and people - that need and deserve proper study.
Amy Reiswig
Victoria
