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OTTAWA \u2014 The federal government is developing a \u201cnational interest\u201d bill to fast-track nation-building projects with a streamlined regulatory approval process as a substitute for reviews under the Impact Assessment Act.<\/p>\n
A briefing document obtained by The Canadian Press indicates the legislation would lay out the criteria to decide if a project is in the national interest. Once that\u2019s decided, a single federal minister would be named to oversee a review process laying out how the project can be built.<\/p>\n
The document, dated May 23, was prepared for consultations between the Privy Council Office, or PCO, and provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners on the government\u2019s major projects strategy.<\/p>\n
PCO officials met with those partners as recently as Wednesday night to go over the proposal. It\u2019s expected to be a topic of conversation at the upcoming first ministers meeting in Saskatoon on June 2.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned on a promise to push big projects forward swiftly as Canada seeks to decouple its economy from an increasingly unpredictable and unreliable United States and turn itself into an energy superpower.<\/p>\n
He announced the plan after meeting with Canada\u2019s premiers two days before the election was called before making it the keystone of his election platform.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to build, baby, build,\u201d Carney said in his victory speech after Canadians elected his Liberal party to a fourth consecutive mandate on April 28.<\/p>\n
The document, identified as a \u201cbackground\u201d paper on \u201cNational Interest Legislation,\u201d says U.S. tariffs and \u201cother trade-distorting policies have put Canada\u2019s economic future at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
It then outlines the steps the government is planning to hasten the approval process for a \u201csmall number\u201d of major projects.<\/p>\n
Part of the plan involves drafting criteria to decide whether a project is in the national interest.<\/p>\n
Those criteria could include \u201cwhether a project will make an exceptional contribution to Canada\u2019s prosperity, advances economic security, defence security and national autonomy through improved movement of goods, services and people,\u201d the document says.<\/p>\n
\u201cProjects should strengthen access of Canadian resource, goods and services to a diverse group of reliable trade partners,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n
Projects would also be assessed against Indigenous and provincial and territorial interests and on their \u201cclean growth potential,\u201d according to the document.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce a project is determined to be in the national interest, federal reviews will shift from \u2018whether\u2019 to build these projects to \u2018how\u2019 to best advance them,\u201d the document reads.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will streamline multiple decision points for federal approval and minimize the risk of not securing project approval following extensive project work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The aim, according to the document, is to build more flexibility into the regulatory process and allow the government to decide that all federal regulatory requirements have been satisfied through a regulatory order. A designated minister would also have the power to impose conditions on those projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe order would effectively substitute the determination for \u2018downstream\u2019 decisions about whether the project can proceed, including decisions under the Impact Assessment Act,\u201d the document says.<\/p>\n
That would effectively circumvent C-69, the Impact Assessment Act. Conservative critics have claimed it has prevented projects from being built.<\/p>\n
The document says the intent is to \u201csend a clear signal early that will build investor confidence\u201d and get projects built faster.<\/p>\n
The proposed legislation would not cover decisions made by arm\u2019s length authorities or regulators, federal-provincial entities or treaty-based processes in the North, the document says. It also commits to upholding Canada\u2019s obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.<\/p>\n
The document also indicates the government may have further plans for speeding up major projects \u2014 it refers to \u201cbroader reform\u201d required to get all projects down to a two-year decision timeline.<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 The Canadian Press<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n