Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc told senators on Tuesday that Canada must pursue Bill C-5's reforms because instability will persist even if a U.S. trade deal is reached.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Canada still urgently needs reform for major project approvals, even with the potential for an end to its trade dispute with the United States, senior Liberal cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says.
Mr. LeBlanc told senators Tuesday that even if both sides reach a deal in the next 30 days, instability will persist, citing U.S. President Donald Trump’s continuing redefinition of global trading relations and the looming renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal in 2026.
“The importance of giving ourselves the ability to properly but expeditiously work with partners to approve projects in the national interest, I think, will exist whether or not we’re successful in getting a trade deal with the United States,” Mr. LeBlanc told the Senate as it pre-studies Bill C-5.
The legislation flows from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s campaign promise to reform the Canadian economy and make it easier to do business internally and around the world, a pitch to voters framed in the context of Mr. Trump’s threats.
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Part of the bill is called the Building Canada Act. It sets up a new system giving the government the ability to designate certain projects as in the national interest, and use an expedited review process.
The minority Liberals are fast-tracking it through the House of Commons and the Senate, arguing that time is of the essence.
The bill could be a boon to Canada-U.S. relations, Mr. LeBlanc said.
“I think if we want to strengthen our economic relationship with the United States, our ability to build big projects in Canada and increase the GDP of our country will be a positive element in our relationship with the United States,” he said.
Mr. LeBlanc is the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy. That final phrase is also the formal title of Bill C-5.
The section of the bill on project approvals designates a minister responsible for building the list of national-interest projects. Once a project is on the list, that same minister sets conditions on development.
“Doesn’t this bill risk enabling political motivated decisions that quietly block strategic projects and harm the Canadian objective?” Conservative Senator Leo Housakos asked Mr. LeBlanc Tuesday.
Mr. LeBlanc said he had “good news” – he’s the minister.
“I’m not an ideological person. I’m pragmatic, and I believe very much that the moment in our country’s history lends itself to this kind of expedited, balanced and thoughtful process,” he said.
“And it’s in that spirit that I would seek to exercise that authority, should this legislation, of course, be adopted.”
Mr. Housakos said Conservatives in the Senate and in the House of Commons support the bill.
That support likely guarantees its passage. The Liberals have a minority government, with 169 seats. The Opposition Conservatives have 144 at present, so combined it is more than enough for majority support of legislation.
Bloc Québécois, NDP and Green MPs are opposed to the legislation. Some Indigenous leaders are also raising concerns with it, arguing it insufficiently protects and guarantees their rights, and environmental groups are expected to protest the bill later this week.
Much of the conversation around what projects could be approved under the bill has focused on natural-resource development or infrastructure to support it.
But Senator Marnie McBean, a former Olympic athlete, asked Mr. LeBlanc whether the government would consider infrastructure to support events such as the Olympics or Pan American Games, which often play a key role in nation-building.
Mr. LeBlanc didn’t rule it out, though he stressed that Bill C-5 wouldn’t create a new funding stream for infrastructure projects, just a new system for getting them built. Still, he said, there could be room for approvals.
“Therein may lie an example where proponents, plural, with the right partnerships may seek to have an expedited process which would give greater certainty to those projects, which is one of the reasons why perhaps many of them haven’t been brought forward,” he said.