This article first appeared in the Toronto Star
Prime Minister Mark Carney has used fear of U.S. President Donald Trump to justify ramming through some of the most sweeping and damaging pieces of legislation in recent memory. Last week’s U.S. midterm results just made that justification a lot harder to sell.
First, there was Bill C-5, a bill that gives Cabinet extraordinary powers to pick projects that can bypass the laws of Parliament. It was passed in less than a month. Now, the government is moving at a similar breakneck speed with Bill C-39, which gives Cabinet even more unfettered powers to bypass critical laws and permanently lower environmental, human health and transparency standards.
The justification for all this is, of course, the anxiety that Canadians are experiencing due to the irrational actions of our neighbour to the south. And Canadians have given the prime minister a bit of a free pass to do what he deems necessary — even when they oppose the decisions being made by this government, such as skipping important democratic processes and gutting laws that protect our most vulnerable wildlife.
But the midterm results could temper all of that.
Of course, the president hasn’t changed. But he no longer has control over the House of Representatives or the Senate. His power is weakened. He will be forced to rely on Democrats to get work done through Congress. This means his attention will likely be less focused on Canada, and more on fighting battles at home.
We’ve already seen his negotiation stance ease with Canada in the days leading up to the midterms.
PM Carney has called Bill C-39 the most consequential piece of legislation in his tenure. And it certainly is consequential: at over 240 pages, the bill impacts a wide range of Canadian laws, from workers’ rights to environmental regulations. It’s a textbook omnibus bill.
The bill will have far-reaching and devastating implications related to Indigenous rights and jurisdiction, the environment, public health and safety, workers’ rights and trade and transportation.
You’d think that responsible lawmakers would want to take their time to hear from the experts and get this “most consequential” piece of legislation right.
Instead, the government is relying on tactics not seen since Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s controversial omnibus bill of 2012, including setting up a “special committee” in the House of Commons to fast-track the bill.
The public was given just two weeks to send in their submissions on this sprawling omnibus bill. Still, thousands of Canadians have written in to express their concerns and ask the government to withdraw the bill.
The committee has held just six meetings to study the bill, giving witnesses only 20 hours to present. Only two of those hours were dedicated to First Nations witnesses.
It’s no surprise then that Indigenous opposition to this bill has been forceful. The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, the Chiefs of Ontario, and Nishnawbe Aski Nation have categorically rejected Bill C-39, because it overrides their constitutionally protected rights.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said the bill “represents a mass dilution of environmental protection and First Nation rights,” and encouraged the committee to hear from many First Nations.
The government’s justification for the speed and scale at which they have been moving since coming to office has always been the threat south of our border. Of course, this was always a weak justification for the unnecessary gutting of laws meant to protect our air, land, water and vulnerable species like the southern resident killer whale, no matter who was in office in the United States.
And yes, that threat is still there. But it’s not as much of a threat as it was just days ago.
If Bill C-39 is as consequential as the government says it is, it must be matched by an equally consequential level of Parliamentary consideration and public review. It’s not too late for Parliament to make sure that happens.
