The National: December 9, 2022

Jamie Kneen was also on CBC's The World at Six.

Transcript: The new strategy [Natural Resources' Minister Jonathan] Wilkinson unveiled today calls for faster project approvals. For instance, one assessment per project, instead of a patchwork of processes at Federal and provincial levels. Wilkinson says he’s working with premiers to streamline things considerably.

But while critical minerals promise to unlock a low carbon future, these mines often disturb swaths of forests and their tailings ponds leave a toxic legacy.

Because of this, Wilkinson promises the environmental assessment process will still be rigorous. But some aren’t convinced.

“It sets off a lot of alarm bells, actually.” Jamie Kneen is with MiningWatch, an environmental and human rights advocacy group. “We’ve already gone through several rounds of basically de-regulating assessment and approvals.”

Listen to the full segment on The World at Six, starting at 15m 15s.