A report from the Commons environment committee has government MPs calling for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to be "modernized" and the opposition dismissing the committee's work as a fiction.

Sources tell The Canadian Press the federal government will use the catchphrase "responsible resource development" to brand moves to streamline environmental assessment, remove bureaucratic barriers to resource extraction, and change the way the Fisheries Act oversees Canada's waterways.

Earth Day -- a global event held annually to draw attention to environmental issues -- has inspired scores of Canadians to attend festivals, hold rallies, and plant seeds of change.

Next week's budget will propose a streamlined environmental assessment process, something that will delight the oil patch and give provinces a larger say over resource development.