Liberals table omnibus bill with sweeping changes to major project reviews and labour laws

OTTAWA — The federal government tabled legislation that fundamentally reorganizes how it approves major projects, promising a “one project, one review, one year” process all the while implementing sweeping changes to Canadian labour rules around collective bargaining and work stoppages.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government tabled a new omnibus Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, on Monday afternoon.

“Today we introduced our most significant piece of economic legislation yet,” Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said in a press conference with other federal ministers after the bill was tabled. “This legislation will give our country the tools we need to build more, better, and more efficiently.”

“Our objective today is straightforward: to make it easier for Canadian businesses to build, invest, grow, and get their products to market, while creating an economy that delivers certainty, prosperity, and opportunity for all Canadians,” MacKinnon added.

The bill aims to designate yet-unspecified areas as “regions of national interest” in which major infrastructure projects would receive the same fast-track approval process as those deemed to be “projects of national interest” under legislation (Bill C-5) passed last year.

It also removes the responsibility of conducting impact assessments for major energy and nuclear projects away from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and puts it into the hands of specialized bodies: either the Canada Energy Regulator or the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

“This will provide a better look at the project as a whole, and lead to more efficiency and less consultation fatigue in the consultation process,” said one senior public servant during a background technical briefing for reporters.

The government adopted almost all the proposals it included in a series of discussion papers published through the spring, with consultations extending throughout the summer.

One Canadian Economy Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the government held nationwide engagement with Indigenous peoples, provinces and territories, investors, municipal leaders, and Canadians over the past few months.

“While we are working quickly, Canada’s government is also doing its part to listen to Canadians,” he said.

The bill also proposes significant changes to how federally-regulated industries — transportation, telecommunications and banking, for example — negotiate union contracts, mediate disputes and resolve work stoppages.

The bill would mandate parties to begin renegotiating a union contract six months before it expires if the previous negotiations were acrimonious or if the expiring deal lasted five years or more.