The Rural Voice, 1990-11, Page 18Get
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519-271-0810
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Hwy. 70
519-376-6735
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519-524-2661
All models may not be available at all Branches.
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14 THE RURAL VOICE
SAVING THE FARM - A PUBLIC CONCERN
From hydro -electric projects to oil
and gas pipelines, from transmission
lines to highways, rural agricultural
communities are feeling the increasing
impact of urban encroachment and the
demands of our industrial society.
Although many farmers recognize the
practical necessity of such develop-
ment, they are concerned about how
and where such projects are permitted
to proceed and the controls which will
be implemented by public authorities
to ensure the prevention or mitigation
of environmental damage. When con-
fronted by such a proposed develop-
ment, individuals often ask, "What
can I do?"
In a recent decision of the Federal
Court of Canada, upon the application
of a number of concerned parties,
including two Saskatchewan farmers,
the Court clearly stated that existing
environmental controls will be strictly
implemented to ensure that environ-
mental consequences are sufficiently
assessed before such developments
will be permitted to proceed. The
project with which the Court was
concerned was the Rafferty -Alameda
Dam Project in the Souris River Basin
in Saskatchewan. The two farmers are
brothers and the children of Russian
immigrants who left Russia because
the right to hold land had been denied
to them. Their farm, comprising
approximately 1,120 acres, has been
owned by the family since 1942. The
proposed dam development would
submerge the most productive pasture
land on the farm and would result in
the destruction of their livestock
farming operation.
In concluding that the project
should not be permitted to proceed
without strict adherence to the federal
Environmental Assessment Review
Process Guidelines, the Court
commented upon the importance of
public input to the process of environ-
mental assessment:
"The applicants in the instant
proceedings acknowledge that the
project in some modified but perhaps
unaltered form will be completed.
They argue, however, that everyone
will benefit from the appointment of
an entirely independent Environ-
mental Assessment Panel, its mem-
bers' expertise and their work, all of
which may be carried out in public
pursuant to sections 20 through 31 of
the EARP Guidelines. At the end of its
work, the Environmental Assessment
Panel must prepare a report con-
taining its conclusions and recommen-
dations —formulated through and
after an utterly public and manda-
torily fair process —for decisions by
the appropriate Ministers, and
transmit that report to the Minister
who, in this instance, is also the
Minister responsible for the "initi-
ating department." Guideline 32
continues and ends with the command
to the Minister to make the Panel's
report available to the public. This is
the great strength of this legislative
scheme. It balances the information,
knowledge and ultimately the opinion
of the public, against the authority of
the Minister and the government of the
day who may, for what they believe to
be high purposes of State, quite ignore
the Panel's recommendations in order
to save both the environment and the
project, as they see fit and feasible."
Depending upon the nature of the
undertaking, its scope and geograph-
ical impact, proposed development
within the public or private sector may
be subject to environmental control by
either federal or provincial regulatory