And this will make you consider their views???
I suspect that a conspiracy theory will effect your judgement.
I consider everyones views but I have yet to be convinced that we are not treading in dangerous waters.
Not enough transparency from some governments and this makes one wonder what is going to happen to our environment in a number of fronts in the years ahead.
Oliver defends limiting access to resource reviews
By Peter O'Neil, Postmedia News April 19, 2012 Environmental groups that don't have particular expertise to offer, and ordinary citizens concerned about projects like the Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline but who don't live or work near the project, shouldn't be able to participate in environmental review hearings, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Wednesday.
Oliver was defending his government's plan unveiled a day earlier to "strengthen environmental protection" by limiting participation only to members of the public who are "directly affected" by major projects.
"We don't see the need" to allow testimony from Canadians outside the project areas, or from environmental groups without specific expertise, Oliver said in an interview.
Oliver also defended the government's announcement Tuesday that it will let the federal cabinet overrule the Calgary-based National Energy Board, a quasi-independent agency created by John Diefenbaker in 1959, on major projects considered to be in the "national interest" by Ottawa. "The rationale is that for large projects that can have a national or regional impact of significance, both environment and economic, we believe the ultimate decision should be in the hands of elected officials and not appointed officials because ultimately through Parliament elected officials are responsible to the people."
Neither initiative was mentioned in Oliver's speech and his news release Tuesday, though they were cited in publicly-available background documents. Oliver said Wednesday his government wasn't trying to hide its plan to clip the NEB's wings as the final authority on major projects.
"Look, the whole legislative package is a complicated one and we wanted to emphasize the job creation aspect of it. We didn't highlight [the cabinet override] but we certainly didn't hide it."
The joint NEB-Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency process that began in January has involved testimony primarily from aboriginal Canadians in B.C. and Alberta living near Enbridge Inc.'s proposed pipeline route from the Edmonton area to Kitimat on the West Coast.
However, the NEB has also heard from groups like the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation and the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union.
And during a four-month period starting in November the NEB had scheduled hearings for registered participants from cities outside the project area, including Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and Port Hardy.
Green party leader Elizabeth May said the environmental assessment agency's "cornerstone" is public participation, yet the government's efforts are intended to limit that input.
"Many projects with significant environmental impacts may be located in remote locations," May said.
"Canadians are entitled to be concerned about fragile ecosystems in the Arctic or significant new sources of new pollution, even if they do not live in the immediate vicinity. "Imagine if the government of Brazil said people living in Rio de Janeiro had no business expressing concern about the destruction of the Amazon. This provision will make Canada a global laughing stock."
Read more:
http://www.timescolonist.com/technology/Oliver+defends+limiting+access+resource+reviews/6483990/story.html#ixzz1sXMja2lT