Failure to enforce oilsands regulations may amount to a subsidy
Two environmental groups have launched a complaint against the federal government for insufficiently cracking down on pollution from Alberta’s oilsands. Environmental Defence Canada and the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defence Council claim Ottawa’s failure to enforce provisions in the federal Fisheries Act that prohibit activity that contaminates bodies of water with harmful substances amounts to a subsidy which would violate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Matt Price, the policy director at Environmental Defence Canada, says it’s now up to the U.S. and Mexico to accept the complaint, but expects it could take years before the issue is resolved.