You may have noticed Canadians are in a bit of a mood ever since a certain somebody threatened our sovereignty and economic well-being. The impact has spread to the highest levels of government policy. The federal government, industry and provinces are seizing the crisis to try and build more stuff more quickly — “build, baby, build” in the words of our prime minister — under the premise that it will help reduce our dependency on an increasingly unpredictable neighbour. Bill C-5, or the One Canadian Economy Act, aims to break down interprovincial barriers to trade and employment, but also to allow projects deemed by the government to be in the national interest to bypass certain regulations, in order to speed up construction. It passed the Senate, its last parliamentary hurdle, on June 26. It’s been labelled a threat to democracy, an insult to Indigenous communities, and a rejection of environmental stewardship. Others say it’s a necessary response to U.S. hostility and a long-needed jolt to stimulate an economy that is being strangled by overly bureaucratic regulations. So what is the One Canadian Economy Act? How has such a controversial bill been able to sail through the House of Commons and Senate on its way to being law? What exactly can it do (and not do)? And why should we care? Here’s a breakdown of what we know. So, okay, what is Bill C-5? There are two parts to Bill C-5. One deals with removing barriers to trade and employment between provinces, which really hasn’t provoked any controversy. Significant hurdles sometimes make it easier to sell to the U.S. than to a provincial neighbour, and the legislation tries to fix that. Likewise, the bill aims to allow more freedom of movement for workers within the country. Where the controversy starts is in the second part of the bill, the so-called Building Canada Act. Churchill, Man. and its Hudson Bay port could get a lot busier if some of Canada’s nation-building dreams come true. The town could be targeted as one end of an economic corridor, carrying goods to overseas markets. Photo: Jenny Wong / The Narwhal According to the bill, the purpose of the act is “to enhance Canada’s prosperity, national security, economic security, national defence and national autonomy by ensuring that projects that are in the national interest are advanced through an accelerated process that enhances regulatory certainty and investor confidence, while protecting the environment and respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples.” Sounds promising. But there’s more. To sum up without parroting the dense legalese of the bill, the act essentially says that if a project is determined to be in the national interest (definition TBD), then anything the project needs to do in order to be approved is considered to have been done. Only then will the minister in charge outline the specific conditions that have to be met by the proponent of a project. The government can also bypass regulations and legislation to expedite the process. That has raised concerns (more to come). The act specifically says those national-interest projects should strengthen autonomy and security, provide economic “or other” benefits, have a high likelihood of success, advance the interests of Indigenous Peoples and “contribute to clean growth and to meeting Canada’s objectives with respect to climate change.” Opposition parties did manage to include amendments before the bill passed the House of Commons and headed to the Senate, including a list of legislation projects cannot bypass, including the Indian Act, the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act and the Criminal Code. But it still leaves the door open to the government picking projects and then allowing them to skip over any number of other regulations, including those dealing with environmental impacts. What kinds of projects could be fast-tracked under Bill C-5? This bill could impact everything from mines and pipelines to electricity grids. The focus is on economic corridors, getting goods to market and developing natural resources and energy infrastructure.
Build, baby, build: a guide to Canadas Bill C-5
