Emails obtained by CBC News show "a very cozy, collaborative relationship" between Saskatchewan's Ministry of Environment and the landowner group whose divisive Quill-Lakes-area water diversion project bypassed the ministry's environmental assessment process, says a University of Saskatchewan law professor.
The emails are between members of the Quill Lakes Watershed Association #14 (QLWA) and both the ministry and Water Security Agency, a Crown corporation the ministry tapped to help the association with its application.
The exchanges, some of which are partially redacted, span from March to October 2017, when the public first learned that assistant deputy minister Wes Kotyk had approved the proposed 25-kilometre water diversion channel to Last Mountain Lake.
The emails show "a relationship where a perfectly legitimate request for information and guidance morphs into a completely behind-the-scenes regulatory process obscured from public transparent review and scrutiny," said Jason MacLean, a University of Saskatchewan assistant professor with a specialty in environmental law.
Jason MacLean, a University of Saskatchewan associate professor with a speciality in environmental law. (University of Saskatchewan)
The emails were obtained through a freedom-of-information request by consultant Jeff Olson on behalf of the Saskatchewan Alliance for Water Sustainability (SAWS).
SAWS is part of a network of groups concerned about the project's environmental impacts on the Lower Qu'Appelle River Valley watershed, plus the government's decision not to order an environmental assessment despite the lack of concrete (and publicly available) information about the project.
One of the concerned groups, the Calling Lakes Ecomuseum, shared the emails with CBC News, which MacLean then reviewed.
'This is a priority for us': ministry
From early on, the association stressed that time was of the essence for the project.
After being asked to do an environmental study, the association wrote in April to the Water Security Agency that "the study we have to do now is going to slow us up a lot."
The association then asked the agency to forward any previous studies on the project area.
A map from the water diversion project's operational plan outlining the path of the proposed channel beginning south of Big Quill Lake. (Resource Management International Inc.)
In an email to a superior two months later, a senior Ministry of Environment official summarized a recent meeting with the QLWA in which "technical deficiencies" in the association's proposal were flagged and more information was asked of the association.
"QLWA wants to move as quickly as possible so ENV will ensure the 'asks' are answerable either by information readily available [or] through existing ministry resources," wrote the official.
"There is likely still some dissatisfaction from their view on the pace," the official continued, "but I did my best to assure them this is a priority for us and that the process ensures credibility, which will lead to better success in the future phases of the project."
'Utterly contrary to the public interest'
MacLean says the emails and the exchanges they describe go from "information exchange to a very cozy, collaborative relationship" and that the ministry — as the regulator of the project — "simply can't have it both ways. It can't so closely collaborate with a proponent and yet at the same time maintain the posture of being a neutral arbiter."
"All of that still sounds to me like it's far more slanted toward facilitation as opposed to arm's length evaluation," added MacLean. "There's the sense that 'we are going to shape this process as much as possible in order to suit the proponent's needs'.
"This is utterly contrary to the public interest."
Assistant deputy minister Wes Kotyk signed off on the project on Sept. 8.
Assistant deputy minister Wes Koytk of the Ministry of Environment. (Radio-Canada)
A week before, the association wrote the Water Security Agency for advice on "what potential conflicts or roadblocks we face so we can prepare for them."
In particular, the associated asked about Ducks Unlimited, which has wetland projects that could, in Ducks Unlimited's mind, be affected by the diversion project.
The agency told the QLWA it should consult Ducks Unlimited, and Kotyk's final approval stated that the QLWA "conducted extensive engagement activities with various stakeholders in areas surrounding the Quill Lakes and downstream areas."
But Michael Champion, the head of government and industry relations for Ducks Unlimited, previously told CBC News the organization was not consulted and only found out the QLWA's proposal more than a month after Kotyk's approval.
Mixed messages on consultation
That's not the only inconsistency suggested by the emails and the public record so far.
Kotyk has said the ministry's decision about whether the project warranted an environmental assessment did not trigger the government's duty to consult potentially affected Indigenous groups.
But in a May 2017 note to the QLWA, the ministry said such groups "should also be considered key stakeholders and engaged as early as possible."
"Those two positions are irreconcilable," said MacLean.
Court battle looming
One group, the Pasqua First Nation, has asked for both a judicial review of the government's approval and, in the meantime, an injunction stopping any construction of the channel.
Lawyers for both the Pasqua and the ministry are scheduled to argue the issue in a Regina courtroom on Tuesday.
The QLWA has yet to receive the final permits from the Water Security Agency needed to start construction. Meanwhile, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is mulling whether the project requires a federal environmental review.
QLWA Chairman Kerry Holderness has told CBC News the future of the project depends on the outcome of the Pasqua's legal challenge.
