Building Canada Strong Act

Bill C-39, Building Canada Strong Act · Second reading · now at committee in the House Where it stands

What Bill C-39 would do

The bill would set one-year deadlines for impact assessments of major energy projects, including pipelines, power lines, and offshore renewables, once required information is submitted. It would also allow the federal government to designate trade corridors, adjust port governance and rail switching rules, and let electronic documents replace paper records for trade. In addition, the bill would introduce new collective bargaining rules and timelines under the Canada Labour Code, along with changes to environmental reviews and fisheries offsetting fees.

Official text (opens in a new tab)

2 statements

Jenny Kwan, Vancouver East

NDP
“Unions want the government to stop forcing people back to work. Instead, this bill weakens workers' power. Unions did not ask for these changes, so I want to know if big corporations did.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, over the course of the summer, the government consulted with unions and labour organizations. Federal unions have been calling for section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to be removed, after the government has used it to order workers back to work, undermining the collective bargaining process, at least 10 times. Now the government is proposing new language around section 107 and calling these changes “guardrails”, but unions are telling us that these changes could potentially weaken workers’ bargaining power. If organized labour did not ask for these changes, who does the member think did request these changes? Would it be the big corporations?

Jenny Kwan, Vancouver East

NDP
“This bill fast-tracks projects, and an environmental group warns that communities could be forced to live with the pollution. Will the government promise that no community's health or environment will be sacrificed?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, an environmental organization has warned that Bill C-39 would create sacrifice zones, where communities are expected to bear the pollution and environmental risks of projects deemed to be in the national interest. Will the government actually guarantee that no communities will be subject to making those sacrifices of health and environment as a result of fast-tracking projects under Bill C-39?

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