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single, streamlined review process for environmental approval of mining projects made its way into the 2010 B.C. throne speech, laying out the government's agenda for the following parliamentary session. In the speech, the B.C. Liberal govern- ment stated its concerns that the two-stage comprehensive process is unduly burdensome and time-consuming, affecting economic growth and jobs. "The recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling on the Red Chris mine project demands immediate action to ratio- nalize public approvals both within our government and between governments," said B.C. Lieutenant Governor Steven L. Point in the throne speech on Feb. 10. "The government will work with other provinces and the federal government to establish one process for one project. There is no time to waste and Canadian taxpayers cannot afford the extra costs, the uncertainties, and the lost jobs that are the products of the current system." The speech went on to call for amendments to the CEAA to create a unified federal-provincial review process. "Currently, over $3 billion in provincially approved projects are stranded in the mire of federal process and delay. This is unacceptable," said Point, adding "the one-project, one-process approach will create a single framework that is timely, diligent, and science-based." In this, the province and mining companies may find strange bedfellows. Canadian Environmental Law Association lawyer Rick Lindgren, who represented six environmental groups as interveners in the review, says environmental groups also favour a single review process, adding they are "alive to integrating federal and provincial processes where they are both applicable." However, he doesn't want to call it streamlining. "That is usually a code word for eliminating important procedural or substantive requirements under assessment law, so if the B.C. folks are talking about stream- lining I've got concern, if they are talking about better co- ordination then I'm all for that," he says. Lindgren says B.C. has discretionary integrated processes available for applicants through the environmental assessment process. Therefore, B.C.'s call for a smoother process is some- what misleading because "there already are adequate oppor- tunities to harmonize and co-ordinate federal and provincial [environmental assessment] processes right now." The issue with Red Chris was not whether a plan was devised. Rather, by deciding to screen the approval process instead of conducting a second comprehensive review, the federal responsible agencies threw the plan into the hazard. "They were on the right track in terms of trying to integrate the provincial and federal requirements, but it all became a train wreck when the responsible authorities decided to downgrade the EA to a screening," says Lindgren. Gavin Dirom, president and chief executive officer of the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia, says a one-project, one-process approach is something his group has advocated for years. The association, which also had interven- er status in the review, believes a single process could happen in as little as six months. "We think that the stars are lining up here. We want to see an effective, robust environmental assessment process but at the end of the day it needs to be efficient, it needs to be mindful of the limited resources we all have to bring to bear on these projects." Dirom says while the MiningWatch decision does take away tools from federal responsible authorities — though according to the ruling they never really possessed those tools anyway — the direction of the court is obvious. "It was very clear in the decision that finding ways to be efficient, finding ways to enrol what they used to call 'harmonization' is still very relevant and the most important thing going forward." Resources are also an issue for environmental groups, says Lindgren. Those groups run out of money and resources for two processes. Another bonus would be to avoid inconsistent results. While he cites the harmonization tools, and says Ontario has similar rules, he adds: "The problem is it is dis- cretionary, nobody makes them do an integrated process, it's just a procedural tool that's available and I think it is under- utilized and misunderstood." He questions why any group would want parallel pro- cesses. "The bottom line is both the provinces and the feds have concurrent jurisdiction over environmental matters. It makes sense for them to co-ordinate where a project may have potential impact on areas of both a provincial and fed- eral jurisdiction. In my mind it's a no-brainer. I don't know why we would allow an EA process to proceed in a non- integrated, fragmented manner." E-DISCOVERY QUIZ ANSWERS 1 2 3 4 www. 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