Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks in the House of Commons. The Conservative Leader did not say how his MPs plan to vote on Bill C-39, noting his caucus would study the proposed legislation.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre dismissed the government’s new economic bill as all talk and no action, predicting it will not deliver on ambitious promises to fast track major projects.
In a speech to the House of Commons, he criticized the government’s bill but did not say how Conservative MPs plan to vote on the proposed legislation. Mr. Poilievre said his caucus would study the bill.
The Commons began debate Wednesday on Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, which was introduced Monday on the first sitting day since members of Parliament returned to Ottawa following the summer recess.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has said the bill would simplify and condense the approval process for major projects so that companies would get a decision within a year. He has also called the bill the most consequential economic legislation of the current Parliament.
Bill C-39 expands on concepts introduced last year in Bill C-5, which included the Building Canada Act. That legislation outlined a process for fast tracking projects if they are deemed by cabinet to be in the national interest.
Both bills outline conditions under which projects can be exempt from policies under the Impact Assessment Act, which was approved by Parliament in 2019 as Bill C-69 under then-prime minister Justin Trudeau.
AFN criticizes federal push to set timelines for major project approvals
The energy sector as well as the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments have long criticized C-69 as a disincentive for investment and the Conservative Leader and his MPs have often criticized it as the “no more pipelines” act.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and representatives of Canada’s oil and gas sector welcomed the Liberal government’s Bill C-39 this week.
Environmental groups have widely condemned the proposed legislation.
Transportation Minister and Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon, who introduced the bill, began the debate on Bill C-39 on Wednesday.
Mr. Poilievre then followed, saying in a speech that more than a year has passed since the government brought in Bill C-5 with promises of swift action and yet no new major projects have been approved under that process.
“It’s déjà vu all over again,” he said, poking fun at the fact that the new bill simply adds one word to the title of last year’s bill.
“Now here we go again. We have another bill, and it does not repeal Bill C-69, Justin Trudeau’s anti-development law. It does not eliminate the industrial carbon tax, and it does not ultimately change the obstacles that are in the existing legal framework.”
Mr. Poilievre said one of his specific criticisms of the proposed new legislation is that it would allow the government to grant extensions to time limits laid out in the bill.
“The famous one-year turnaround time on a decision that this minister went and advertised to the media is nothing in reality except an illusion,” he said.
“We will look very carefully at this 250-page Liberal bill, but we’re not going to believe all of the rhetoric, the hype and the talking points because we’ve heard it all before.”
Labour Code changes will increase transparency amid high-profile bargaining disputes, Hajdu says
In addition to the project-related elements, Bill C-39 also includes proposed changes to the Canada Labour Code, which are strongly opposed by Canadian labour leaders.
Mr. Poilievre did not address that part of the bill in his speech.
NDP MP Heather McPherson did focus on that aspect in her remarks.
“The Canadian Labour Congress, Unifor, the United Steelworkers, Teamsters Canada and other unions representing millions of workers across this country have told the government very clearly that Bill C-39’s new powers undermine the fundamental right of workers to strike, to withhold their labour,” she said, questioning why the government did not address these concerns after they were expressed earlier this year during consultations on the measures.
Mr. MacKinnon responded by saying the bill adds safeguards to the use of Canada Labour Code provisions that allow the government to intervene in a work stoppage in a federally regulated field.
“The government has no interest in getting involved in labour disputes. We want parties to solve them at the table, and this bill puts in place measures that help them do that,” he said.
Mr. MacKinnon rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Wednesday.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
In response to Mr. Poilievre’s speech, Mr. MacKinnon said the Conservative Leader remains focused on the previous prime minister, rather than the policies of the current government.
“That speech was yet another very Justin Trudeau-obsessed piece of rhetorical flourish from the leader of the Opposition. We’ve heard a lot of it before,” the minister said.
Green Party MP Elizabeth May made her position clear during the debate.
“To my honourable friend and colleague, the Minister of Transportation: This bill is an abomination,” she said.
The legislation will be debated at second reading before it is put to a vote to send it to a committee for further study, which will include hearing testimony from expert witnesses.