I firmly oppose this bill in…

I firmly oppose this bill in its current form. As has been stated by others, I understand this bill to be a gross overreach of government power in that it:

- overrides indigenous rights
- throws away environmental protections for endangered species and their habitats
- takes away responsibility of companies to assess potential environmental damages
- enables the government and the companies to escape being held accountable for any damages done during these projects

These mining projects are being touted as a fix for the current economic situation, but forgoing assessments could cost us in the long run.
Who knows what future costs there will be to pay for undoing the damages to the environment, especially with no assessments being done before starting these projects? Not to mention the worsening climate conditions will not be helped by eliminating the important carbon sink that the peat lands provide. Look at the cost of the damages being done by all the extreme weather we are already experiencing due to accelerated climate change.

In these divisive times it's more important than ever to work together to face issues and tackle projects as a united front. This cannot happen by overriding scientists, conservationists and indigenous communities. In my personal opinion, the fact that this government feels the need to propose this bill to get these projects done tells me that they expect the environmental fallout to be severe, and they wish to silence their critics. That is not a good look for a democratically elected government.