Former interim Conservative Party leader Rona Ambrose says proposed federal legislation to overhaul environmental assessments in Canada must be paused or significantly amended because of the economic “crisis” in Canada’s oil and gas sector.

In an interview with iPolitics on Wednesday, Ambrose said the Trudeau government needs to put the breaks on bill C-69, which would overhaul the federal environmental assessment process by broadening investigations into proposed projects and consulting Indigenous groups more.

It would also replace the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency with a new watchdog called the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, and would give the federal environment minister the power to veto a proposed project before an assessment even starts.

The Liberals must also pause bill C-48, Ambrose said — referring to legislation that would ban oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of crude oil from stopping or unloading at ports along British Columbia’s north coast, from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border.

Both pieces of legislation are currently at second reading in the Senate. The Saskatchewan government has also asked for amendments to Bill C-69.

Ambrose isn’t alone in her opinion.

Just blocks away, at a lunch hosted by the Canadian Club of Ottawa, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was making her own plea for federal help and pipelines. Bill C-69 and C-48 were also on her radar.

Bill C-69 “must be fixed, and fixed soon” Notley said, warning the legislation has caused a chill on investments.

“As it stands, Bill C-69 will make it much more difficult than it already is to build badly needed economic infrastructure,” she added. “It is sending a chilling message to investors, creating huge uncertainty in an energy sector already facing uncertainty.”

As for Bill C-48, Notley said it ignores “decades of safe shipping in those waters,” and bans goods besides crude oil, such as bitumen, Alberta’s main oil product.

However, tankers carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) are exempt from the legislation, Notley said. “Is that the message we want to send? LNG is fine, but a plan to ship partially upgraded bitumen is dead on arrival? I don’t think so.”

Canadian oil is currently being sold on the world market at deeply discounted prices, with the Canadian price facing a discount of more than US$45 per barrel. On Sunday, Western Canadian Select was selling around US$10 a barrel.

“Should we be selling our most valuable commodity for pennies on the dollar? The answer is obviously, ‘No, that’s stupid,’ ” Notley said.

The Alberta government has estimated the price discount is losing the Canadian economy $80 million a day. The energy sector accounts for nearly 10 per cent of Canada’s GDP and employs hundreds of thousands of workers across the country.

“My friends: The toll on jobs is mounting, anxiety around kitchen tables is rising, and the economic damage to the country is deepening,” she said.

Earlier this month, Notley appointed a special three-person envoy to work with the province’s energy industry to come up with short-term solutions.

The industry has blamed the steep price drop on a shortage of pipeline capacity in Western Canada after a Federal Court of Appeal ruling in August halted the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion after it determined that Indigenous groups had been inadequately consulted.

The Trudeau government had bought the pipeline from American company Kinder Morgan in August after Ottawa offered to pay $4.5 billion for it in May.

The Alberta government had asked the federal government to appeal the Federal Court ruling, which the latter has decided against doing. Instead, it’s re-launched consultations with Indigenous groups.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Calgary last week, where he admitted the current price decline “is very much a crisis.” Trudeau was town for an infrastructure announcement, where he was met by some 4,000 Albertans demanding something be done.

“I cannot stress to you enough how real this is for Albertans,” Notley said. “The differential isn’t just numbers on a screen and economists talking. It’s real people, with real bills to pay and real concerns about the future.

“People aren’t going to take it.”