From Wreck Cove to Voisey's Bay: the evolution of federal environmental assessment in Canada

Canadian environmental assessment has evolved significantly from the embarrassing Wreck Cove hydroelectric project experience in the mid-1970s to the more exemplary case of the Voisey's Bay Mine and Mill project, approved in 2002. Over this period, policy and law reforms have slowly made federal assessment requirements more demanding, open and mandatory. Viewed from a sustainability perspective, this evolution has been generally positive, but insufficient. While further improvements are possible and desirable, the experience of process reform in Canada so far suggests that they will be resisted and gradual.