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The federal government’s rejection of many of the Senate’s proposed amendments to Bill C-69, which would overhaul how Canada approves energy projects, is disappointing but not surprising. The Liberals did not introduce C-69 in a rush or in ignorance; the anger expressed by many in the energy industry and in the Western provinces was so intense precisely because they knew the Liberals meant what they were proposing. Expert after expert warned the Liberals that C-69, as first written, would derail major energy projects in Canada by blowing up established, understood procedures and precedents for project approvals. Those skeptical of the Liberals’ good will have no doubt wondered if the prime minister sees that as more a feature than a bug.

But the prime minister and his environment minister are not the only people with a say in the matter. The Senate took the bill to the proverbial woodshed and sent it back to the House with almost 200 amendments. It’s not a shock that the Liberals would be unhappy with that, and would reject many of them. The government has said it will accept, in whole or in part, almost 100 of the Senate’s amendments, but will reject the remainder, including the ones that resource-dependent provinces and industry groups had considered the most vital to fixing the worst of the bill.