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Will the Trudeau Liberals’ new industrial assessment policy, Bill C-69, be the end of pipeline projects? Or will it be a useful tool for projects to proceed, doing so in an environmentally friendly manner?

When it comes to answering these questions, I don’t put much weight in the opinions of many of this debate’s main players due to their bias or their ignorance.

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Politicians must be loyal to their party. Industry folks have to look out for their jobs, and I’m also skeptical of green and social justice activists because they are funded by U.S. interests to block pipelines. And most people, including most politicians, only dimly grasp regulatory law and how it will play out in our courts.

That said, I have found a few fair and informed people to rely on, most notably Andrew Roman, who testified at the recent Senate committee hearing’s on Bill C-69.

Roman is both non-partisan and expert. He’s retired from his Toronto law firm but worked in administrative law for more than 45 years, including on numerous environmental regulatory cases, representing government, business and Indigenous groups.