Now that Bill C-5 is the law of the land, Prime Minister Mark Carney says “the real work begins” to fast-track major projects. Here’s what comes next — and what experts say needs to happen.
Parliament passed the bill before it rose for the summer. The second half of the bill, the Building Canada Act, enables the federal cabinet to pick projects deemed to be in the national interest, approve them upfront and override federal laws, environmental reviews and the permitting process.
Those provisions around major projects face pushback from critics, who warn the bill weakens environmental protections, constitutional rights and democracy itself.
The government hasn’t yet announced which projects will be fast-tracked. Sources tell CBC News that ministers are meeting throughout the summer behind closed doors to implement Carney’s vision.
Carney’s cabinet to meet to fast-track infrastructure projects: Sources
It will be hearing from “provinces, territories and Indigenous proponents over the summer to solicit projects that meet the criteria of the act,” Crown and Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty said in the Senate before the bill was passed.
Carney has framed C-5 as essential to combat the urgent economic threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump to Canada’s steel, auto and natural resources sectors.
“We are in a crisis,” Carney said after the bill cleared the House of Commons with help from the Conservatives. “If you don’t think we’re in a crisis, go to Sault Ste. Marie. Go to Hamilton. Go to Windsor. Go to any lumber or forestry project. There’s more coming.”
But depending on who you ask, the urgency to get building has existed long before Trump. They say Carney and his cabinet would do well to keep up the momentum for years to come.
“There are a number of failed projects around the country,” said Jay Khosla, who has served as senior assistant deputy minister at Natural Resources Canada and the Privy Council Office.
Khosla is now executive director of economic and energy policy at the Public Policy Forum. The think-tank produced a roadmap named Build Big Things, which lays out in stark terms that Canada has fallen behind its peers in GDP per capita growth.
“A major cause of this lagging growth is Canada’s bloated regulatory burden,” the report notes. “Canada has been mostly content to muddle along in the slow lane.”
Carney’s ‘nation-building’ projects bill passes into law
Khosla rattled off numerous construction projects that have been envisioned but not yet proceeded, such as critical mineral mines in Ontario’s Ring of Fire, oil and gas production off the coast of Newfoundland and transmission lines that could bring renewable power across the country.
If Carney is serious about following through with this election promise to “build, baby, build,” Khosla said cabinet should promptly release its list of projects and dismantle the hurdles proponents face.
He says the prime minister and the country’s top civil servants will need to closely watch for fail points in the system, once those projects are named.
“I would be asking for a list that I could put in my vest pocket or a ticker tape on my screen every day,” Khosla said.
However, addressing concerns about Indigenous constitutional rights seems to be the present focus of the government, after several First Nations leaders panned how the bill was passed.
In an interview with CBC News, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak accused Carney of rushing the bill in a month when chiefs were busy addressing wildfires and evacuating their communities.
Woodhouse Nepinak called for better consultation.
Senators were ‘painted into a corner’ on major projects bill vote: Sen. Simons | Power & Politics
“Dialogue happens both ways. Not one way ramming something through,” she said.
As the national chief notes, not all Indigenous Peoples oppose resource development.
For instance, one Inuit-owned project is hoping to be deemed in the national interest.
The proponents of the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link want to connect Nunavut’s mainland communities to Manitoba’s power grid and join the rest of the country in enjoying high-speed fibre-optic internet.
The corporation aims to build a 1,200-kilometre transmission line from Manitoba, linking at least five Nunavut hamlets and mines. Several open-pit gold mines operate in the Kivalliq region. Those mines and their adjacent communities burn diesel for electricity and heat.
“We’re ready to go. We’ve been ready to go for a number of years,” said Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin, CEO of the Nukik Corporation.
Carney will be holding summits with Indigenous leaders in Ottawa, starting with First Nations representatives on July 17.
He hinted last month that this will be “the first step in that process” of identifying the priority projects.
