Liberals' major projects bill passes first vote with Conservative support

Analysis

The Liberal government's Bill C-39 passed its first vote in the House of Commons on Thursday, with Conservative support sending the sweeping legislation to a special committee for study.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party supported sending the bill to committee in order to propose amendments to what he called a "weak, watered-down, long-delayed" bill.

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"We will be putting forward amendments, to protect workers, their jobs, their rights and the working-class people who build this country," Poilievre told reporters.

The 243-page bill proposes to extend a single, one-year review process for major infrastructure projects across the country.

It also changes the Canada Labour Code, introducing a special mediator and a national interest test to guide when the labour minister can intervene to end a strike or lockout.

Critics warn of rights at risk

At a news conference Thursday, NDP Leader Avi Lewis said the legislation "must be scrapped" because of the massive changes it would unleash and because the government failed to consult adequately with Indigenous communities and other affected groups.

"Together, we're sending a clear message to the Liberal Government that you cannot build a stronger Canada, at the expense of workers' rights, the rights of Indigenous communities, and crucial environmental protections," said NDP House leader Don Davies.

Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, called C-39 an attack on workers' rights.

Bruske said changes to clarify a minister's power to scuttle a work stoppage when the "national interest" is at stake completely undermine unions' ability to use the threat of a strike to extract gains at the bargaining table.

"If the government instead chose to give employers the intervention powers that they've been asking for, we are going to have to draw a very different conclusion about what the legislation has been designed to accomplish," Bruske said.

Candace Rennick, national secretary-treasurer at the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said her union's executive board has decided to support locals who defy intervention orders.

"Because it's CUPE members and CUPE members only that should decide when their picket lines end," she said.

Federally regulated employers, however, say the legislation does not go far enough.

FETCO president and CEO Derrick Hynes said the organization supports the introduction of special mediators but wants the labour minister to have the power to intervene before a strike or lockout begins.

"We believe that urgency is important here; that we are in the midst of a crisis, and that the government needs to respond and address some of these challenges in an accelerated time frame," Hynes said.

Indigenous leaders raise alarm

Chief Shelly Moore-Frappier, of the Teme Augama Anishinabek nation, told the news conference with Lewis that her community is not anti-development but this legislation must not pass as written.

She said she wants to see the bill amended to compel the government to obtain Indigenous consent for developments, eliminate the legislation's deadlines on consultation and require companies to clean up former industrial sites.

"We were told the fast-track was temporary. C-39 takes it and makes it permanent," Moore-Frappier said, referring to the Carney government's initial major projects law.

Poilievre was asked how he would enforce the tight timelines he proposes while giving Indigenous communities enough time to consider proposals.

He said Indigenous people have already given their consent to an aggressive infrastructure agenda.

"Indigenous people want to build, and I believe that Indigenous Canadians can be the richest people anywhere on earth if we unblock our resources, get the government out of the way and get building," Poilievre said.

Liberal MP voices concerns

On Tuesday, B.C. Liberal MP Patrick Weiler took some shots at his own government's bill during debate in the House of Commons.

Weiler said while he agrees with the overall direction of the bill, he's not comfortable with C-39 giving cabinet the power to fast-track project timelines.

"Given that the powers in this bill would be permanent, it is important that where new flexibility or discretion is created, Parliament instils clear and transparent processes," Weiler said.

He also warned the one-year project timelines under the bill could undermine the government's duty to consult with Indigenous communities.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said the bill is the "omnibus of omnibuses" and threatens to trample the environment in order to build things quickly.

"Once Cabinet decides a project or undefined region of national interest has been decreed by Cabinet (then) every future decision will be taken for the furtherance of the project," said May. "It's quite extraordinary."

Davies said he asked Government House leader Steven MacKinnon to allow his party to participate in the special committee but was turned down, a move Davies called "fundamentally undemocratic."

May said she also asked for committee standing but was denied.

The 11-member committee includes six Liberal MPs, four Conservatives and one Bloc Québécois member. It does not include representation from the NDP, which does not have official party status.

The legislative committee is not set to meet until the House returns from its Thanksgiving break, on the week of October 19, unless members adopt a motion to start earlier.

Poilievre said Conservatives will seek to eliminate the industrial carbon price and create "shovel-ready zones" with pre-permitting for developments.

The government insists it will uphold its duty to consult with Indigenous groups on projects and argues the legislation does not threaten the right to strike.

With files from The Canadian Press, CBC News and National Post