Save Canadian Jobs Coalition calls for amendments to Bill C-69

OTTAWA, Dec. 5, 2018 /CNW/ - The Save Canadian Jobs Coalition (savecanadianjobs.com), bringing together concerned industry groups, associations, and citizens across Canada is calling for immediate amendments to the Federal Government's  Bill C-69, An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, currently making its way through the Senate of Canada.

Bill C-69 poses a grave risk to Canada's ability to attract investment and our economic prosperity. If passed in its current form, the bill will replace the National Energy Board with a new agency to assess energy projects. Worryingly, the bill provides no hard timelines at important stages of a project's review and introduces more red-tape which will hold up project approvals. This will have a lasting, negative impact on Canada's economy and our ability to get our resources to global markets. With Canada's energy industry already under attack, the timing for this flawed legislation could not be worse. As drafted, the bill sends a message to investors that Canada will make you jump through hurdles to complete projects ? this must be corrected.

"There are tens of thousands of jobs connected with the resource sector across Canada; where I live in Ontario there are at least 63,000 jobs connected to the oil and gas industry through its supply chain. Getting C-69 right is important for manufacturing jobs, and is important for Canada - we need the federal government to listen." ? Jocelyn Bamford, Founder, Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada (Save Canadian Jobs Coalition Member)

Bill C-69 is a threat to job creation. As it stands, the bill would allow the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to stop the clock on any environmental assessment underway, which could lead to significant delays. Worse still, the bill, while in the House of Commons, was only reviewed by the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee instead of the Natural Resources Committee, the International Trade Committee, or even the Finance Committee.

"Bill C-69 is a job killer. Outrageously, it undermines opportunities for indigenous Canadians to advance economic development in our communities, by allowing any person or group from anywhere to have a say in whether a project can proceed." ? Stephen Buffalo, President and CEO of the Indian Resource Council (Save Canadian Jobs Coalition Member).

For more information about the Save Canadian Jobs Coalition: 
http://www.savecanadianjobs.com

SOURCE Save Canadian Jobs Coalition