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October
1999 Newsletter
More
Deception from the Regional Government
The
regional government's 'save-the-expressway' campaign
reached new depths in early September with a deceitful
accusation that the federal government has flip-flopped
on the need for an environmental assessment of the project.
The
region's chairman and its expressway lawyer held a press
conference on September 8 to unveil a 1983 letter from
a federal employee to a provincial employee which stated
that the federal government would not be participating
in the provincial assessment of the expressway.
What
the chairman and his environmental assessment lawyer
didn't bother to point out was that the 16-year-old
six-line letter was written the year before
rules were adopted requiring environmental assessments
of projects needing permits under the Fisheries Act.
That took place in 1984, a well-known fact that can
actually be found in a textbook edited by the Region's
lawyer. Apparently they hoped that the media and the
public wouldn't know about this history, and would swallow
their fanciful claim that this 1983 letter has some
relevance today.
The
press conference also failed to note that it is actually
the Region which has flip-flopped on this issue. In
February 1996 the Region issued a 90-page public document
on the assessment process for the Red Hill Creek Expressway
project. On page 13, that document stated: "The following
lists the federal and provincial legislation, policies
and guidelines that the Region anticipates to be applicable
to this project even if no changes to the expressway
approved in 1985 are made: "Federal Legislation (to
be confirmed):
-
Fisheries Act - for authorization and compensation
to fish habitat;
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Canadian Environmental Assessment Act; * Migratory
Birds Convention Act;
-
Navigable
Waters Protection Act" This was repeated virtually
word for word (but with the removal of the qualifier
"to be confirmed") on page 19 of another regional
report issued in May 1996. The second document also
reprinted a letter sent from the federal environment
ministry to the region dated March 4, 1996. It stated
in part: "A federal CEAA (Canadian Environmental
Assessment Act) screening will ultimately require
an assessment of all potential environmental impacts
of the project".
These
3-year-old documents, which the Region neglected to
present in its press conference, show clearly that the
Region is fully aware that federal assessment law applies
to the Red Hill project and until very recently fully
accepted this reality. False and misleading information
from the Region related to the expressway project has
become all too frequent. Regional officials have previously
been caught issuing phony poll results, twisting traffic
studies, and making ridiculous claims that the expressway
will improve air quality. There has also been suppression
of warnings of serious health impacts, and a long history
of trying to stop public criticism of the expressway.
This latest bit of deceit only serves to bring the Regional
government into further disrepute.
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©
Friends of Red Hill Valley 1991-2005
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