Official Hansard
Mr. Speaker, as we debate Bill C-39, the building Canada strong act, I want to take this opportunity to deliver my first speech in the House of Commons. My riding, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, is located in the heart of the industrial region of Saguenay—Lac‑Saint‑Jean and aims to serve as a gateway to the natural resources of Quebec and northern Canada and, of course, as a window to the world to diversify trade, attract investment and help build a strong, more independent and more resilient economy. Over the past year, Canadians have seen just how quickly events beyond our borders can affect our economy and our wallets. A conflict on the other side of the world can disrupt markets and the energy sector. Just ask farmers right now. A lack of shipping capacity can drive up costs. For a Canadian company, a disruption to a rail line, a highway, or a road can hurt producers and consumers at both ends of the supply chain. Faced with this global reality, our government was elected on a firm commitment to reinforce Canada’s economic sovereignty and to empower our country to build bigger, stronger and faster. The people of Chicoutimi—Le Fjord expressed those same expectations during the August 31 by-election. In the midst of the trade war, it is now time to be masters in our own house, control what we can control and diversify our economies. Our supply chains are built from ports, railways and roads, and the workers who keep them running are the backbone of our economy. Back home in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, we often say we are like beavers: We build roads, dams and large-scale infrastructure, and we are ready to rise to this challenge. For all these reasons, stronger supply chains are essential to our government’s ambitious plan to double exports worldwide—beyond the U.S. market, of course—to build major projects and to attract record levels of investment, as we have seen recently in Toronto. First and foremost, the building Canada strong act aims to strengthen our supply chains. This ambitious legislation creates more robust supply chains by taking steps to treat Canada’s transport system as an integrated national commercial network, rather than as a collection of separate, dysfunctional parts. Under this legislation, the federal government can formally designate national trade corridors and set performance targets for them. That means monitoring the movement of goods across an entire corridor, identifying where delays and capacity constraints are occurring and, of course, measuring how the system is performing. The bill also creates a national trade corridors council. Its role would be to monitor the movement of goods, analyze disruptions affecting trade corridors, of course, identify systems or sectors that are not functioning properly or as they should, and most importantly, provide recommendations to the Minister of Transport. As we invest in our trade infrastructure, these measures will ensure that those investments are directed to the areas where they will have the greatest impact for Canadians and taxpayers. This is about moving from a fragmented approach to an integrated transportation system. The reliability of our trade corridors has a real impact. A congested port can lead to additional storage costs and significant delays. A lack of rail capacity can mean farmers’ grain sitting in silos rather than moving to markets. Our government’s goal is simple: to strengthen our trade corridors to ensure that Canadians and Canadian products can reach their destinations. The second major element is our ports. As members know, my riding is home to the Grande-Anse deepwater sea port, an asset to Canada. Canada’s port authorities are a vital part of our supply chains. Bill C-39 will, of course, modernize their governance and give them greater trade and financial flexibility to invest, generate revenue and expand the infrastructure needed to support trade. The bill will create new indigenous advisory boards in recognition of the fact that indigenous communities are important partners in the development and operation of Canada’s transportation infrastructure and the extraction of our critical minerals. It is important to note that the bill maintains the role of ports as non-profit organizations and creates more opportunities for partnerships and capital projects through increased flexibility. However, infrastructure is just one part of the challenge. The other part is the regulatory system that surrounds it. Today, companies may be required to provide similar information to multiple government departments and agencies. That means more forms, more paperwork, more duplication and, of course, higher costs and longer timelines. Bill C-39 would establish authorities to enable greater information sharing among authorized government agencies, in order to reduce the administrative burden and streamline our processes. The bill would also support paperless commerce by recognizing electronic records that are transferable in accordance with international standards. This means more efficient information sharing, less duplication and a streamlined approach to documentation. Bill C-39 also addresses the approvals themselves. The bill would establish a major projects office within Transport Canada to coordinate federal authorizations and consultations for transportation projects. The goal is to provide a clearer federal pathway for priority transportation infrastructure and to support the government’s broader goal of getting projects from the application phase to the decision phase more efficiently. On that point, the bill is very clear. It is not about eliminating standards. It is about reducing duplication. It is not about removing consultation. Rather, it is about making federal processes more consistent and predictable, while upholding the same high standards that we are proud of, as Canadians and as a government. Canada needs to be able to build faster while continuing to build responsibly. Lastly, Bill C‑39 recognizes that supply chain resilience depends on security. This bill will modernize Canada’s framework for transportation security clearances. It will expand the roles and functions to which transportation security clearances could apply. It will improve risk assessments, improve information sharing and strengthen clearances in terms of the granting, refusal, suspension or cancellation of clearances. The goal is to better address complex and evolving threats, because security is a key part of supply chain resilience. Taken together, these measures offer a practical, coordinated approach to strengthening the infrastructure and systems that keep Canada’s economy going. We need to move goods from farms to silos, from mines to ports, from factories to markets and from our communities to customers around the world. We need a transportation system that can keep pace with our investments and with the opportunities available to us. That means building our capacity, but also making better use of the capacity we already have. It means having the information we need to understand how our trade corridors work. It also means ensuring that our ports have the necessary tools and flexibility to grow. It also means making sure that when we approve and build major transportation projects, we do so with the coordination and predictability that Canadians expect. That is why strengthening supply chains is fundamentally about strengthening Canada’s economy. It is about building the transportation capacity, coordination and resilience that Canada needs for the economy that we are building today and, ultimately, for the economy that we want to build for future generations. That is how we are going to build Canada strong. As the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, I speak with people involved with aluminum plants, seaports and critical minerals, and I know that all stakeholders agree on the importance of having the government involved in efforts to build Canada strong.