14 May 2025 | The Tyee via UVic News
As British Columbia pushes ahead with Bill 15—the Infrastructure Projects Act—critics are raising red flags about what they see as a troubling shift in environmental and Indigenous governance. Touted by the province as a way to speed up infrastructure development, the bill would allow select projects to bypass key environmental assessments and limit oversight from communities and First Nations. Opponents argue it opens the door to deregulation, weakens accountability, and sidelines those most affected by large-scale development.
A new article highlights these concerns, featuring the perspective of Dr. Gerald Singh, an Assistant Professor and Ocean Nexus Chair in Global Change and Sustainable Development at the University of Victoria’s School of Environmental Studies. With expertise in environmental governance and Indigenous rights, Singh warns that the bill could erode trust in public institutions and reverse years of progress toward more inclusive, transparent decision-making.
Dr. Singh’s research sits at the intersection of science and policy, with a focus on the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. As Deputy Research Director with the Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center, his work addresses some of the most pressing global challenges—from assessing the cumulative impacts of human activity on ecosystems, to identifying strategic policy actions aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. His approach combines quantitative and qualitative methods, including structured expert elicitation, to help navigate data gaps and inform effective, equity-focused governance.
At UVic, Singh also teaches courses on environmental justice, policy, and equity, helping students understand the real-world impacts of legislation like Bill 15. As the conversation around the bill continues, Singh’s insights offer a timely and critical lens on how we define—and defend—sustainable development in British Columbia.
You can explore more of Dr. Singh’s work on UVicSpace, the University of Victoria’s open-access research repository.
