Statement from Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate

Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – Today’s “Bulldoze Nature” bill (the government’s Build Canada Strong Act) spells disaster for communities and the environment across Canada. The government is seeking to eliminate any barrier to megaprojects like the West Coast pipeline and Roberts Bank megaport, no matter the cost to nature and wildlife.

The government is essentially suggesting that we keep both eyes closed when we put shovels in the ground, by kneecapping federal responsibility for project reviews. This will leave Canadians in the dark about risks to communities, wildlife and nature. It also would make it practically impossible for the government to meaningfully consult Indigenous communities on major projects, which is constitutionally required.

Environmental laws are not red tape. They exist to protect Canadians and the environment we love and rely on from irreversible ecological harm.

We urge Members of Parliament to vote against this bill and oppose the government’s extinction agenda. There is no undo button for ecological damage. Once the places and wildlife that we love are gone, we don’t get them back. And if they are lost, Canadians won’t forget who let it happen.

Analysis of the “bulldoze nature” bill: 

The bill amends the Impact Assessment Act, the Canada Energy Regulator Act, the Building Canada Act, the Species at Risk Act and the Canadian Navigable Waters Act in order to:

  • Allow Cabinet to create “regions of national interest”, where certain projects could be designated for fast-tracking. The federal government provides no criteria for identifying these economic zones, nor does it provide any mechanisms for ensuring environmental safeguards within them.
  • Impose a one year timeline on major project approvals, including for pipelines. Complex projects cannot be responsibly assessed in 12 months. Rushing assessments means less time to properly study impacts, consult Indigenous communities, and evaluate risks to human health and safety.
  • Make the Canada Energy Regulator Commission the sole assessor of pipelines, enshrining a recent regulatory change and weakening the types of review that pipelines will need to undergo.
  • Give Cabinet the authority to pre-approve pipelines before their routing details are known, and allow the Canada Energy Regulator to exempt pipelines from unspecified laws.
  • Weaken protections for fish and fish habitat. In practice, this would allow companies to destroy critical fish habitat to buy dubious ‘habitat credits’ or pay a fee to offset the damages.
  • Grant Ministers the authority to change, weaken or actually remove project conditions after approvals. It also grants Ministers the ability to change or remove pre-existing conditions for projects of national interest. For example, the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 went through federal review and was approved on conditions that are meant to mitigate harms to the Southern Resident Killer Whale. Under these new changes, those conditions can be removed.
  • Move responsibility for impact assessments of nuclear projects away from the Impact Assessment Agency to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. This risks undermining informed decision-making concerning project approval for projects with extremely high inherent costs and risks.
  • Allows early construction activities to start before a project is approved, which could create irreversible environmental impacts or effectively predetermine approval.
  • Weaken transparency requirements for the public, to ensure that obligations are “administratively feasible.”
  • Allow the Minister of Transport to exempt bodies of water from the application of certain provisions of the Canadian Navigable Waters Act.
  • Weakens the Species at Risk Act, by allowing the Minister to determine what types of conditions are “feasible”, with no clear criteria to guide those decisions.

Additional Background Information

  • The Government of Canada is claiming that it has listened to the 26,000 Canadians who opposed this by agreeing not to weaken the Species at Risk Act, but this is far from the truth. This bill will still have devastating consequences for wildlife. When paired with the Building Canada Act and the fast-tracking of destructive megaprojects, this has truly become an extinction agenda.
  • Polling we released last week shows how unpopular these changes are. Most respondents would be less likely to vote for a government MP if the government proceeds with plans to weaken environmental protections in order to fast-track pipelines and megaprojects.
  • Impact assessment is one of the most important tools governments have for making smart decisions about major projects. It is common sense that before approving a project, governments should understand the risks to communities, wildlife, water, Indigenous rights and the climate.
  • We share the goal of building the infrastructure that Canada needs. But we need to be building projects that support our future, such as renewable energy, grid infrastructure, public transit and clean manufacturing. The approach the government has laid out today risks putting Canada’s environment, waters and rarest and most vulnerable species at risk – all while doing nothing to ensure projects are built better or will even benefit Canadians.
  • On September 9, the federal government released new regulations which exempt pipelines from the Impact Assessment Act, and oil extraction from any federal review.
  • Packaged in today’s omnibus bill are changes to the Canada Labour Code.
  • In May, Prime Minister Carney’s government published a discussion paper that seeks to give Cabinet sweeping powers on industrial projects, effectively gutting environmental and public oversight. Experts warned that if implemented, it would represent the worst evisceration of environmental law in Canadian history. Over 26,000 Canadians submitted responses to the consultations, mostly to oppose the proposed changes. Environmental Defence’s response to the consultations on the major projects discussion paper is available here.

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

Midhat Moini, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca