Conservatives vote with Carney government to rush Bill C-5
The federal Conservatives voted with the Liberals on a special order to push a massive piece of legislation on major project approvals through the House of Commons before the week's end.
Three hundred and five Conservative and Liberal MPs voted in favour of the government's time allocation motion, while 30 Bloc Québécois, Green and NDP MPs voted against it.
The federal government is determined to get Bill C-5 — dubbed the One Canadian Economy Act — through the House of Commons before MPs leave Ottawa for the summer recess. With the Conservatives' support, it looks like the federal government will succeed.
Now, the federal Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities will have two meetings this week to study bill C-5 before it is set to report back to the House on Friday.
Conservatives and Liberals voted against a Bloc Québécois amendment that would have given the committee two full days to study the legislation.
The Bloc Québécois, NDP and Green Party say the Liberals' time allocation motion is undemocratic and doesn't give MPs enough time to study and fully understand the legislation. The section on major project approvals alone would give the federal government authorization to override 13 existing laws and seven regulations for projects deemed 'in the national interest.' Many of these laws and regulations are environmental.
The proposed legislation would allow the federal government to conditionally approve projects it deems 'in the national interest' before an environmental or impact assessment or other regulatory processes take place. Review processes will still take place but focus on 'how' a project should be built instead of 'whether' it can be built.
Liberal MPs, cabinet ministers and House Leader Steven MacKinnon justified the controversial time allocation motion by saying the government was elected on a mandate to move quickly on projects of national interest and remove federal trade barriers.
Liberal MPs, cabinet ministers and House Leader Steven MacKinnon justified the controversial time allocation motio n by saying the government was elected on a mandate to move quickly on projects of national interest and remove federal trade barriers.
To assuage concerns, Liberal MPs and cabinet ministers have repeatedly referred to a set of 'criteria' used to determine whether a project is deemed 'in the national interest.' Some factors the government may consider include whether a project advances the interests of Indigenous Peoples and contributes to 'clean growth.' The latter criterion was received with skepticism because Prime Minister Mark Carney touted an oilsands lobby group's proposed carbon capture megaproject as an example of one possible project in the national interest.
The problem: the legislation does not require projects to meet all or any of these factors; they are merely a suggestion. Similarly, Carney said his government won't impose a project on a province. However, this is not spelled out in the proposed legislation — Carney's word is the only assurance that provinces won't have a pipeline or other project forced through their jurisdiction.
This verbal commitment is not enough to protect provincial sovereignty, Bloc Québécois MPs argue.
All day Monday, Bloc Québécois MPs took shots at the Conservatives for voting with the federal government, questioning whether the official opposition is still willing to stand up for democracy. To this, Conservative MP Chris Lewis pointed out that the NDP and Bloc Québécois have both voted with the Liberals previously.
If all goes according to the federal government's plan, Bill C-5 will pass third reading on Friday and be sent to the Senate where it goes through a similar process of study and possible amendments. The Senate got a headstart studying the bill on Monday. In the afternoon, senators heard testimony from Transport and Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland on the first portion of the bill which aims to eliminate federal barriers to interprovincial trade.
The Senate sits for one week longer than the House of Commons; its last possible sitting day is June 27, compared to June 20 for MPs.
Senator Paul Prosper said he plans on putting forward an amendment to slow C-5 down if and when it gets to the Senate in 'hopes that more rational minds prevail in terms of consulting with Indigenous groups.'
'Looking at all options'
At a non-partisan news conference on Monday morning, Green Party MP Elizabeth May, Indigenous leaders, Senator Paul Prosper, NDP MP Gord Johns and two environmental lawyers urged the federal government to slow down and not rush the bill.
'This legislation is certainly something all Canadians should be concerned about,' said Abram Benedict, Regional Chief for the Chiefs of Ontario, referencing similar legislation in Ontario that is 'undermining democracy' and First Nations rights holders.
Chiefs of Ontario is not opposed to development or projects, Benedict said.
'But First Nation rights holders must be involved from the beginning, not given three weeks' notice that legislation will be coming forward, and given two weeks' notice of what it looks like,' he said.
Benedict said the Chiefs of Ontario will 'be looking at all options,' including protest and legal options to slow the federal government down in the courts to ensure rights-holders are heard. This includes a rally planned for Tuesday afternoon outside Parliament.
The bill 'is an assault on science and democracy,' Anna Johnston, a staff lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law, said at the press conference. Johnston said the bill will shut the public out of decisions that affect them and allow cabinet to withhold 'virtually all' information about projects from the public, including the project details, scientific reviews and the advice of responsible ministers. Public comment periods would still take place, but after a project has already been listed and received conditional approval, according to the legislation.
'If a highway were designated for fast-tracking just blocks from your home, the minister wouldn't have to give you any information beyond the name and a brief description of it, and you would have no say in whether, where, or how the highway was built,' Johnston said.
Ecojustice staff lawyer Joshua Ginsberg is concerned about the federal government giving itself powers to override existing laws to get projects built. Some of the 13 laws the federal government could override under the proposed legislation include: the Fisheries Act, Indian Act, Canada Marine Act, Species at Risk Act and the Impact Assessment Act.
'For example, today, the federal government cannot issue permits, by law, for activities that would jeopardize the survival and recovery of a threatened species, but under this bill, the government could be compelled to approve activities causing that kind of harm, even if science warns of catastrophic consequences,' Ginsberg said. The legislation also empowers ministers to override laws passed by Parliament. This 'extraordinary mechanism' concentrates decision-making authority in the executive and weakens democratic oversight, he said.
This bill is worse than Stephen Harper's omnibus bill C-38 which famously 'destroyed 70 environmental laws,' May said.
'It appears to me, and it remains to be seen, that Mr. Carney's new majority coalition is Liberal-Conservative, delivering Pierre Poilievre policies with a more friendly face,' May said.
The bill has a five-year sunset clause, meaning that if the bill becomes law, there will be a five year period during which projects can be listed for conditional approval. May pointed out that one Liberal MP, Patrick Weiler, wants a shorter sunset clause because of the sweeping powers it affords to government.
'Allowing cabinet to decide which projects proceed before reviewing them is like jumping off a cliff and then asking for the parachute,' Johnston said.
The Bloc Québécois wants no part of projects based on 'energy of the past,' MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay said during debate on his party's motion on Monday evening. This is just economic and environmental common sense, he said, referencing scientific reports that a vast majority of fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground if the world has any hope of limiting global warming in line with the Paris Agreement.
Canada's oilsands produce 'some of the most heavily polluting oil in the world,' he said.
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