Guilbeault under fire for Alberta Coalspur Mines expansion [Video]

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is catching flak from opposition MPs after Canada’s Impact Assessment Agency decided a massive thermal coal mine expansion in Alberta does not require a federal assessment.

The IAAC decided Coalspur Mines Ltd.’s proposed expansion of its open pit coal mine in west-central Alberta doesn’t require a federal impact assessment because the company has been “actively consulting with numerous Indigenous groups,” and there are other provincial and federal regulations to address any potential negative impacts.

NDP MP and environment critic Laurel Collins and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May panned Guilbeault’s decision to not use his ministerial powers to order an assessment.

“This is a shocking decision made by a government that tries to brand itself as a global climate leader,” Collins wrote in a letter to Guilbeault and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, on Dec. 11.

The Liberals’ 2021 election platform promised to crack down on coal. This included phasing out unabated …