Canada's 'nation-building projects' won’t override Yukon risk assessments

With the launch of the Major Projects Office (MPO) intended to identify and get “nation-building projects” like port, railways and energy corridors built faster, a federal spokesperson reiterated that the objective of “one project, one review” won’t override the Yukon’s assessment process.

That’s because environmental assessments under the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Act (YESAA) already achieve the goal since the processes undertaken by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) inform territorial and federal government decisions, according to an email statement from Pierre Cuguen, a spokesperson for the Privy Council Office.

“If a project in the North were to be included as a project in the national interest, this treaty-based environment