By Natasha Bulowski
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Canada’s National Observer
A controversial bill that would give the federal government the ability to override laws and regulations and fast-track projects is one step closer to becoming law.
The federal Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities passed 23 amendments to Bill C-5 and wrapped up after midnight following a marathon Wednesday session. The Carney government used a special order to limit debate and study to try to get the bill through Parliament before MPs leave for summer recess this Friday. MPs will vote on the amended version of the bill on Friday and have a chance to add new amendments before it is sent to the Senate.
Along with removing federal barriers to internal trade, Bill C-5 would allow the federal cabinet to conditionally approve projects it deems “in the national interest” before regulatory processes take place and enable cabinet to exempt those projects from many laws and regulations.
If passed in its original form, the bill would also empower cabinet to override any laws passed by Parliament, like the Criminal Code or Species at Risk Act, for example. Some of that power may be curtailed after opposition MPs carved out some exclusions and checks on the powers it would afford the federal government, but Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval is not satisfied.
“The bill is less problematic than it was, but it’s still not a good bill for sure,” Barsalou-Duval said in an interview early Thursday morning with Canada’s National Observer.
“It’s not a good deal for the environment and Canada.”
The Bloc and Conservatives amended the bill to curtail cabinet’s power, naming 16 laws the federal government could not override, including the Criminal Code, Indian Act, Lobbying Act, Conflict of Interest Act, Trade Unions Act and Hazardous Products Act, and others.
The NDP and Green Party also oppose Bill C-5, but only the Bloc Québécois gets a vote at committee meetings. That didn’t stop Green Party Leader Elizabeth May from attending virtually to speak to her amendments. No NDP MP was present for the clause-by-clause debate and votes.
Another amendment passed by the Bloc Québécois and Conservatives prevents the government from designating projects for fast-tracking when Parliament is prorogued or dissolved.
Environmental lawyers, including West Coast Environmental Law’s Anna Johnston, criticized the bill for lacking transparency. Opposition MPs made some gains on this with a series of amendments that will require more information about listed projects to be made public in a timely manner.
Many of these amendments, particularly those that increase transparency, are a step in the right direction and could “go a long way towards improving government accountability to voters,” Johnston told Canada’s National Observer in an emailed statement.
However, cabinet would still get sweeping powers to declare when and for whom laws apply, which is troubling, she said.
Additionally, now, if a project has not been substantially started within five years of being listed, the document expires, according to a Bloc amendment.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has said no project will be imposed on a province, but this is not spelled out in the bill and the Bloc Québécois are not willing to take Carney at his word. The party tried — and failed — many times to change the bill’s language to explicitly require Quebec’s consent for any project within its jurisdiction.
“The thing that was the most important for us is not in the bill,” Barsalou-Duval said after the meeting concluded.
The Liberal committee members opposed these changes and the Conservatives abstained.
Liberal MP Will Greaves told Canada’s National Observer the amendment is unnecessary because provincial jurisdiction is in the Constitution. “Any law that we pass is subject to the Constitution, and the provinces’ jurisdictions are the starting point; they don’t need to be written into the bill expressly.”
The Bloc did manage to pass an amendment that would require the federal government to give 30 days’ notice before a project is listed in the national interest, consult with the province where it will be carried out and “obtain its written consent if the project falls within areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction.”
The eight-hour committee meeting on Wednesday evening was marked by friendly exchanges, jokes and laughter between Liberal, Bloc Québécois and Conservative MPs, despite the BQ’s vehement opposition to the proposed legislation. The rare instances of unanimity resulted in smatterings of applause and cheers, with Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs exclaiming: “I’m so used to fighting and losing!”
But there were tense exchanges as well, particularly between BQ MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who testified for two hours alongside Transport and Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland and newly elected Liberal MP and minister of Crown–Indigenous relations, Rebecca Alty.
Barsalou-Duval compared the sweeping powers in Bill C-5 to a “disguised” version of the Emergencies Act, and suggested the federal government is taking advantage of the trade war with US President Donald Trump to grant itself extreme powers.
LeBlanc balked at the comparison to the Emergencies Act, and said the current situation is urgent from an economic standpoint.
Through much interruption and back-and-forth, Barsalou-Duval fired back: “We don’t know that you will act in our best interest.”
The CPC and BQ voted in favour of an NDP amendment to add language about good-paying, unionized jobs to the preamble.