Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland defended Ottawa’s Bill C-5 Monday, dismissing concerns around Indigenous consultation as a motion to fast-track the legislation passed with CPC support.
“I think this legislation is one piece of legislation every single member of this House can agree on,” she said.
Freeland pointed to plans to create an Indigenous Advisory Council under the federal government’s new major projects office, as well as funding for the Indigenous loan guarantee program, as evidence that the feds will continue to facilitate “Indigenous participation in building Canada.” The intent, Freeland said, is “Indigenous prosperity.”
The minister did not provide further details on how exactly the government would ensure sufficient time for free, prior and informed consent, with Freeland saying the legislation “is not about skipping steps.”
“It is about saying, instead of taking steps sequentially, let's take them simultaneously,” she said.
Freeland made the comments during a Senate committee of the whole meeting on Monday, downplaying a groundswell of opposition that’s been building among some First Nations and environmental advocates since the feds tabled the bill less than two weeks ago.
The bill seeks to curb internal trade barriers and introduce new project rules with the goal of paring down project approval timelines to two years, with Prime Minister Mark Carney wanting to see it passed by Canada Day. Carney has suggested MPs could sit into the summer to do so, given the House is expected to rise on Friday.
The Liberals dismissed an earlier Bloc request to split the legislation in two, instead putting forth a motion to push the bill through the chamber by the end of this week. That motion was debated in the House Monday and passed with Conservative support (Ayes 307; Nays 29), with Freeland signalling the feds don’t plan to budge on their plan.
Much of Freeland’s testimony focused on the lifting of interprovincial trade barriers, with the minister predicting this will add up to $200 billion to Canada’s economy and increase GDP between two and four per cent. However, she also warned this will “not come immediately” as the barriers that exist are “principally imposed” by the provinces.
“What a delicious irony it will be for us to respond to tariffs imposed from abroad by finally tearing down the tariff and trade barriers we have imposed on each other,” she said. “I think that we now have this thicket of overlapping rules and regulations, and now is the time to act.”
Freeland’s comments came after Canadian Identity Minister Steven Guilbeault, who previously held the Environment file, wouldn’t publicly say whether he backs the controversial bill, deferring to the parliamentary process underway.
“These are important steps when you are proposing legislation,” Guilbeault told Ottawa reporters at an unrelated news conference Monday, predicting only a “small number of projects’ will be subject to the legislation because not all initiatives will “trigger” the feds’ involvement.
“We want to make sure that we get this right,” Guilbeault added, though he admitted that if Ottawa does not fold in feedback from Indigenous communities, it could lead to “problems” down the road.
‘A new low’
Earlier in the day, Green Leader Elizabeth May slammed the Liberals for wanting to “bulldoze” the parliamentary process and ram the bill through despite vocal opposition.
May told Hill reporters the bill “does nothing" for workers feeling the impacts of U.S. Donald Trump’s trade war, dismissing Energy Minister Tim Hodgson’s argument that Ottawa must act urgently because of pressure from down south.
“C-5 and the programming motion together represent a new low, or perhaps a new height, for contempt for Parliament itself,” May said.
“The idea that this bill will be done and dusted by Friday must be resisted, and as an effort to make sure the PM understands (this), we will sit through the summer.”
Calls for proactivity, different focus
Still, May reminded Carney that he’s operating in a minority Parliament and that ramming the bill through the House will put his progressive bona fides at risk.
“It appears to me, and it remains to be seen, that Mr. Carney’s new majority coalition is Liberal-Conservative delivering Pierre Poilievre’s policies with a more friendly face,” May quipped.
May also wondered why the feds want to rush passing “bad legislation that will lead to court challenges,” arguing that the bill also would also give power to a successive, unknown cabinet in the hands of a different prime minister. She noted that Liberal MP Patrick Weiler, an environmental lawyer, has also raised that point.
Weiler is calling for a shortening of the bill’s five-year consent clause, arguing it could be “used in bad faith by a future government” as its clause would stretch beyond Trump’s term and another federal election.
West Coast Environmental Law staff lawyer Anna Johnston, who joined May at the news conference, expressed concern that municipalities and Indigenous communities would not have a say in which projects are prioritized and where they are built under the bill. She said the feds should focus on “transformative projects” like rail lines, renewable energy and an east-west electricity grid.
“Public engagement is not red tape. It makes projects better and it helps get buy-in to key decisions,” she added. “Economic uncertainty can't be used to shut the public out of decisions that affect them.”
Still in the spotlight
Senator Paul Prosper, a Mi’kmaq lawyer with the Canadian Senators Group, said he plans to put forth an amendment to “slow down” the bill’s progress in the upper chamber, though he said the proposal wouldn’t impact parts of the bill dealing with interprovincial trade. Prosper said the bill gives "extraordinary powers” to the government and hoped “more rational minds will prevail” when it comes to consulting Indigenous communities and environmental experts.
“If you don't do it right now, we’re looking at some potential litigation in the future. So it’s best to be proactive now and not to allow this bill to take place on the backs of Indigenous people,” Prosper added.
The senator didn’t table this on Monday, though the upper chamber is poised to continue studying the legislation Tuesday, with Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty on deck to testify. That is expected to last a total of two hours, with remaining time set aside for other witnesses.
Meanwhile, NDP MP Leah Gazan accused the Liberals of running roughshod over Indigenous rights, arguing the legislation provides ministers with “unlimited” powers in their pursuit of speeding up project development. She said the Liberals and Conservatives are co-operating on legislation that will benefit “their corporate friends,” vowing her team will not support the bill “in its current form.”
“The second part (of the bill) is riddled with lack of oversight, constitutional violations against Indigenous people, violations against the health and safety of workers and we are saying a clear ‘no’ while the Liberals and Conservatives are saying a clear ‘yes’ to corporations,” Gazan told Hill reporters.
She also downplayed the exclusion of her party on committees, telling reporters she’s currently working with recognized parties in the chamber to get witnesses to testify on the bill. Gazan added that this includes ensuring there is some “accountability” on the legislation, vowing to ensure the voices of Indigenous communities, labour, and environmental and health groups’ feedback are reflected in the process.
Meeting Trump at the G7
May's press conference was held just before Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Alberta. The pair agreed to "pursue negotiations toward a deal within the coming 30 days."
Conversations on a new economic and security partnership between the pair have reportedly intensified leading up to the summit, with Trump saying they’ve “developed a very good relationship” during a brief scrum ahead of their bilateral meeting.
“Our primary focus will be trade and trade with Canada, and I'm sure we can work something out,” Trump said. “We’re going to see if we can get to the bottom of it today.”
While the president showed little sign of ditching his tariff approach, Trump said Carney is pitching a “more complex” solution and expressed hope that a deal is "achievable" without providing a timeline.
-With files from Katherine DeClerq
