New major projects bill, rowdy question period kick off Parliament's fall sitting

New major projects bill, rowdy question period kick off Parliament's fall sitting

Prime Minister Mark Carney's government kicked off the first day of the fall sitting with a sweeping piece of legislation that promises to complete reviews of large projects within a year and cut down on disruptive labour disputes impacting railways, ports and airlines.

The government says the bill is needed to reach its goal of stimulating investment to boost an economy under pressure due to the trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.

But it's already rankled unions and environmentalists. The Carney government is enjoying soaring poll numbers, but will this bill erode their political capital? We'll see over the next few months with Parliament back in session.

Mark Hancock, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, had a strong rebuke for Hajdu's assertion that the bill strengthens workers' rights.

"The piece of this legislation that directly attacks workers and our constitutionally protected right to strike is a huge problem for us," Hancock told reporters.

If the ministers think unions like CUPE will be happy with the legislation, he says, they are "in for a real rude awakening."

Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer says his party is going to take a careful look at Bill C-39 before taking their position.

Scheer told Cochrane that his party supports workers' right to demand better compensation when "Liberal inflation erodes the value of their paycheque."

He said that the Liberals over a year ago said their last major projects legislation, Bill C-5, would allow them to move quickly.

"Not a single project has been completed through that office," Scheer said, referencing the federal Major Projects Office established last year.

The Conservatives backed C-5 — support that was crucial to its passage in a minority Liberal government.

This time, the Liberals have enough votes in their own caucus to get the bill through the House.

'We can't save Canada by selling it off,' Lewis says about new major projects bill

NDP Leader Avi Leader criticized the government's Building Canada Strong Act as attacking the right of workers to strike and 'doubling down on an already rushed and risky process for massive industrial projects.' He said the bill 'would pass into law the wish list of some of the biggest corporations and financial players in Canada and around the world.'

Federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis slammed Bill C-39 while speaking to reporters, saying Carney is rolling out the "red carpet" for foreign investors and driving through the interests of "the most powerful in society."

"We can't save Canada by selling it off," he said.

Lewis said the government should instead be rushing to revive Canadian manufacturing and address the "cost-of-living emergency."

"Mark Carney is basically asking us all to trust him that we're going to double down on the most profitable corporations and sectors to build even more corporate profits. And somehow, this time, unlike all the previous times, it's going to trickle down, lift all boats and benefit us all," he said.

Christine Normandin, the Bloc Québécois House leader, told Power & Politics that her party isn't against efficiency for major projects, but "there's a balance to be struck," and this bill doesn't do that.

"It's basically tearing down environmental laws, it's going against collective bargaining rights," she told Cochrane.

"So we feel it's opening the door to investors at the cost of progressive values that were, in the past, the heart of the Liberal Party."

While the more than 200-page Bill C-39 covers many topics, the Liberal House leader says they all come together under a larger theme of building a stronger Canada.

"This is not omnibus legislation," he told Cochrane, when asked why the government didn't table separate pieces of legislation on collective bargaining, trade diversification and project approvals.

"This is legislation … where we come together and say 'here's how our economy can develop,'" he said.

MacKinnon is speaking live with CBC's Power & Politics.

He said the government is working to create an environment where "chronic disputes" between employers and unions in critical sectors can be resolved.

The bill would make federal intervention be "better defined and more sharply limited," he told host David Cochrane.

Longtime Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc was asked whether this new bill is an admission that the Impact Assessment Act, also known as Bill C-69, was wrong. That's the controversial federal law brought in under Justin Trudeau that overhauled Canada's environmental assessment and regulatory processes for major infrastructure and energy projects.

"No," said LeBlanc. "If you have one single decision maker with the responsibility to give a decision within a year, then working back from that maximum timeline, you're going to have much more rigour, and due diligence in how individual assessments are done. None of this in any way diminishes environmental assessments [or] our obligations to Indigenous rights holders."

Building Canada Strong Act will 'put a guardrail' around Labour Code provisions, says Hajdu

In response to a reporter who suggested that changes to the Canada Labour Code in the omnibus bill tabled by the government Monday will weaken the right to strike, Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu says the bill will 'raise the bar around accountability' on both sides of negotiations.

Hajdu defended the government against allegations from unions that the new Labour Code rules will weaken their right to strike, saying they are "incorrect."

"In terms of workers' rights, we're actually strengthening their rights," she told reporters, saying the bill puts guardrails around Section 107 that will "raise the bar" of accountability for unions and workers.

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu says the bill will clarify how Section 107 of the Labour Code is used and reinforce it as "a tool of last resort."

"This clarity means that the minister will have to show his or her work clearly, outlining why the need for arbitration or other dispute mechanisms is necessary," she said.

"These changes mean that, as many people have called for, the labour minister must meet a higher bar before intervention is possible."