Without fanfare or a news release, the Carney government gave notice over the long weekend that it plans to use its most controversial law to push through a pipeline to B.C.’s coast — a move that should concern us all.
The Building Canada Act, also known as C-5, was given two days of study as it was rushed through Parliament last year, with MPs and senators pressured by the newly elected prime minister who argued the changes were “critical” to safeguard the Canadian economy and fight back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
This is norm-busting legislation that allows the government to bypass a multitude of other relevant laws and regulations that weigh a project’s impacts on human health and communities, on Indigenous Peoples, on navigable waters, ports and transportation routes, on the environment, on marine mammals, fish, migratory birds, species at risk of extinction, and pollution. By listing projects under the law as being in the “national interest,” this government — and future governments — can pick and choose which laws to apply to which projects, which laws to ignore, and what conditions — if any — to place on projects, and all without mandatory public consultation.
It is not only an affront to democracy, but also an open door to corruption.
For more than a year, no priority projects were given the distinction of being listed as being in the “national interest,” and documents obtained by the Star suggest private proponents wanted to stay away from the untested legal risks the designation might carry. But now the federal government, which plans to use taxpayers’ money along with the Alberta government to bankroll a $35-44 billion West coast oil pipeline (plus $6 billion to $7 billion in federal commitments to its accompanying Pathways carbon capture and sequestration project) has decided to invoke the law.
The Building Canada Act should be revoked rather than utilized. It is a substantive change to the way governments abide by the law. One cabinet minister backed by the prime minister can deem a project to be in compliance with laws and regulations it hasn’t and won’t meet — and with little transparency.
If the government can legally ignore laws it dislikes — laws that were properly studied and debated — what does it say about the value of democracy and the rule of law?
One might ask: Why does the Carney government need this measure? The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, built by the Trudeau government, did not require such exceptional measures, and this new pipeline will mostly follow that one’s existing route.
The government has not made its case publicly. Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke twice to the media this week, but neither time did he explain his reasons — nor was he asked about them.
But from its previous actions, we know where lies the government’s focus.
In May, the government released a discussion paper floating changes to the way projects are assessed. It suggested neutering the Impact Assessment Agency, allowing construction to begin on projects before evaluations are made; allowing the environment minister to be overruled and granting a cabinet colleague the right to change environmental conditions on projects. It also suggested giving cabinet the power to exempt some projects from the Species at Risk Act’s jeopardy test — a measure that prevents permits from being granted to projects that jeopardize the survival of an endangered species.
The reason the government sought to bypass the Species at Risk Act, as I reported in the Star, was so it could push through the West Coast oil pipeline despite internal concerns it could lead to the extinction of B.C.’s southern resident killer whale population. Fewer than 75 of these orcas are left in the Salish Sea.
When the federal government assessed the threats to the whales in 2018 and again in 2024, it concluded that this endangered species faced imminent threats that, unless mitigated, could “make survival and recovery of the population unlikely or impossible.” Measures were put in place to help address increased threats to their habitat and food supply — due to increased shipping traffic from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion — but in 2024 it had not resulted in any significant change. In fact, the analysis found the whale population “continues to decline.”
The government’s published assessment included data questioning whether the low number of reproductive females was enough to ensure the survival of the species, and mentioned that the environmental assessment for Roberts Bank Terminal 2 found “significant adverse effects” for the whales in their critical habitat. That was before the Carney government decided that terminal will also be the end point for the new pipeline further increasing threats to the vulnerable orcas.
While the Carney government said the Star’s reporting “could not be further from the truth,” the outcry it generated led to the extension of the consultation period into July. Reports indicate more than 21,000 submissions were made.
Whether or not the government tables new legislation to enact the discussion paper’s changes, it is worth noting that by listing the proposed oil pipeline as a project of “national interest,” the Carney government won’t need to change the laws as it proposed.
It can now quietly bypass the Species at Risk Act and other statutes by using its super law to clear any environmental hurdles — nixing legal protections for the southern resident killer whale population in the process.
Concerned? You have until Sept. 18 to tell the government how you feel at [email protected].
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