Bill C-5

One Canadian Economy Act

An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act

Part 1 enacts the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act , which establishes a statutory framework to remove federal barriers to the interprovincial trade of goods and services and to improve labour mobility within Canada. In the case of goods and services, that Act provides that a good or service that meets provincial or territorial requirements is considered to meet comparable federal requirements that pertain to the interprovincial movement of the good or provision of the service. In the case of workers, it provides for the recognition of provincial and territorial authorizations to practise occupations and for the issuance of comparable federal authorizations to holders of such provincial and territorial authorizations. It also provides the Governor in Council with the power to make regulations respecting federal barriers to the interprovincial movement of goods and provision of services and to the movement of labour within Canada.
Part 2 enacts the Building Canada Act , which, among other things,
(a) authorizes the Governor in Council to add the name of a project and a brief description of it to a schedule to that Act if the Governor in Council is of the opinion, having regard to certain factors, that the project is in the national interest;
(b) provides that determinations and findings that have to be made and opinions that have to be formed under certain Acts of Parliament and regulations for an authorization to be granted in respect of a project that is named in Schedule 1 to that Act are deemed to have been made or formed, as the case may be, in favour of permitting the project to be carried out in whole or in part;
(c) requires the minister who is designated under that Act to issue to the proponent of a project, if certain conditions are met, a document that sets out conditions that apply in respect of the project and that is deemed to be the authorizations, required under certain Acts of Parliament and regulations, that are specified in the document; and
(d) requires that minister, each year, to cause an independent review to be conducted of the status of each national interest project.

The Environment

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is going to have to leave the banker behind and start acting like a democrat. Bill C-5 raises major concerns about the environment and Quebec's sovereignty over its own territory. If there is one bill that needs to be studied thoroughly, it is this one. The Prime Minister has no right to move closure on Bill C‑5 when the bill gives him unprecedented, exceptional powers.

Is the Prime Minister's intention to bypass Parliament and govern by executive order like Donald Trump?

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has given notice of a gag order on Bill C‑5. The House has been sitting for just three weeks, and he already wants to ram through a bill, and not just any bill. Bill C‑5 gives him the power to rule by decree on fossil fuel projects. Bill C-5 completely guts environmental assessments. Bill C‑5 threatens Quebec's jurisdiction and the rights of indigenous peoples. It makes no sense to let it go through without debate, studies or hearing from witnesses.

Will the Prime Minister let Parliament do its job?

Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates (A), 2025-26

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Chair, the minister can disagree with the premise all he wants, but it is his own government memo that says 2.7 million livelihoods in construction, energy, transportation, agriculture and manufacturing will be lost because of that bill, which is on the books. What we have really seen here tonight is no details, no transparency, no plan and an admission, with the Liberals' own Bill C-5, that all of their anti-development bills are holding Canada back and killing Canadian jobs. They are driving projects away and driving half a trillion dollars into the U.S.

How can Canadians believe anything the Liberals say now?

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, is the minister aware that Bill C-5 would usurp the authority of modern land claim agreements and legally transfer that authority to ministers in cabinet, without the consent of indigenous signatories?

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, the minister seems to be totally absent and not to understand the issue of gender-based violence. He has not taken any of those factors into account.

Moving forward, would Bill C-5 put in place measures to hold resource companies accountable in cases where workers perpetrate violence against indigenous women and girls, or is that still off his radar?

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, how will the government uphold its commitment to fight the climate crisis in Bill C-5 when a minister in cabinet can override legislative assessment processes, including the environmental protections contained in the Impact Assessment Act?

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, why is FPIC, free, prior and informed consent, left out of Bill C-5?

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, through numerous Supreme Court of Canada decisions, the court has determined a constitutional obligation to consult and accommodate indigenous peoples, including the obligation to obtain full consent. Is the minister aware that Bill C-5 fails to uphold that constitutional obligation, yes or no?

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, is the minister aware that Bill C-5 violates section 35 of the Constitution Act 1982, yes or no?

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, to the Minister of Resources, has Bill C-5 been subjected to a charter challenge test, as required by the Department of Justice Act, section 4.2?

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Chair, none of what he has just said is actually what Bill C-5 says. There is no requirement for consensus, nor is there any legal requirement that any of the factors that are listed are actually considered by cabinet.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Chair, is the minister aware that none of what he just said would have any force in law under Bill C-5?

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Chair, why is the government's claim of the two-year target for project approvals not in Bill C-5?

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Chair, that is an admission that Bill C-69 blocks projects. The government would not need Bill C-5 if it worked.

What specific projects will be of national interest?

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Chair, why does Bill C-5 allow for exemptions from the Conflict of Interest Act?