Official Hansard
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Bill C-39, the building Canada strong act. Before turning to the legislation, I want to reflect on the responsibility the people of Edmonton Centre entrusted to me. Last year, they put their trust in me and the Prime Minister’s vision for Alberta and for our country. At a critical moment in Canada’s history, they chose strong leadership and a clear direction for our future. The Prime Minister committed to a federal government that would work as a genuine partner with Alberta. As a lifelong Albertan, I am so proud to help deliver on that commitment. Alberta is front and centre to our economic vision and our plan for Canada. Back home, my discussions with my constituents remind me of what that means for the people we serve: young women and men preparing to enter the trades, business owners in our downtown core looking to expand and parents in Woodcroft or Westwood thinking about their children building a better life in the community they call home. Their ambitions give purpose to our work here. I take pride in what Albertans across our province have built and in the ingenuity and determination that continue to shape our future. No story defines Alberta’s innovation and dedication like the oil sands. For generations, that potential presented a formidable challenge. The bitumen was thick and much of it lay deep underground. Turning that resource into a viable industry required breakthroughs in science, engineering and construction. Today, Alberta’s next chapter is taking shape in our classrooms, laboratories, businesses and workplaces. It will draw on energy, agriculture, manufacturing, technology and ideas whose full potential we are only starting to understand. Our responsibility is to help make those possibilities become real, and that work has taken on a new urgency. The unjustified and unprovoked trade war with the U.S. has put Canadian livelihoods under pressure. It has reinforced the importance of building strength at home and expanding our relationships around the world. For Alberta, reaching more customers means greater choice, stronger opportunities for producers and more security for workers. We have the resources the world needs and the expertise the world values. Governments have to work together to connect those strengths to new markets and to new investment. Our partnership with Alberta is producing concrete results. This legislation would help us continue to deliver not just for our province but for all Canadians. I was just in Calgary to announce how our government and the Province of Alberta will work together to advance the vision of high-speed rail connecting Calgary and Edmonton. By referring the high-speed rail strategy to the Major Projects Office, we are bringing federal expertise and coordination to a provincial vision that will connect businesses, people and opportunities along this very important corridor. Last week, I joined the Prime Minister and the Premier of Alberta in Fort McMurray as our government listed Pacific link, the proposed west coast pipeline, as the first project of national interest under the Building Canada Act. Canada and Alberta will share equal ownership, and indigenous communities will be offered a minimum of 10%. The proposed pipeline will connect Alberta’s industrial heartland just outside of Edmonton with the west coast and with growing markets in Asia. For the people I represent, that connection is close to home. It links the skills and industries of our region to customers around the world. Pacific link will advance the Pathways carbon capture project, which will target 16 million tonnes of annual emissions while building Canadian expertise in carbon capture. These projects, Pacific link and Pathways, have the potential to support about 180,000 jobs. These projects demonstrate what governments can do when they work together. We have to bring that coordination now to more investments across the country. Bill C-39 would carry that work forward. For a business preparing to invest, clarity about the federal process matters. It helps companies plan, secure financing and commit to the workers and suppliers who will build new projects. The bill would bring greater coordination to federal assessments and permitting. Departments could work in parallel with clearer responsibilities and a more predictable path to a decision. Also, decisions would take one year from when the required information has been provided with provision for additional time, if necessary, and permits could be issued alongside that decision-making. These connections matter across Alberta’s economy. A growing manufacturer needs reliable electricity. An agricultural producer needs dependable transportation. An exporter needs a route to the customer who wants to buy their product. Opening new markets requires the capacity to reach them, and this bill would help strengthen the infrastructure, the trade corridors and the processes that make that happen. Building successfully also requires public confidence. Assessments have to be rigorous. Conditions have to be enforceable. The Crown’s duty to consult indigenous peoples must be fulfilled with time needed for meaningful consultation. Coordinating that work, as this bill is intended to do, can support earlier participation and clearer decisions. Respecting rights and supporting indigenous ownership are responsibilities that we have to carry forward together. First nations and Métis communities are already taking ownership stakes in major infrastructure supported by provincial and federal loan guarantee programs. These can create lasting revenues and great opportunity. That same spirit guides our work with provinces, respecting their responsibilities while fulfilling our own and delivering on shared commitments. The people who helped build Alberta invested in a future they would never really fully see, and their work gave the generations that followed more opportunity to earn a living, raise a family and contribute to their communities. Now, that responsibility belongs to us. I think of residents in my riding, such as a young person entering the trades to build new projects, the business owner ready to fill new orders from customers overseas and parents celebrating the fact that their children can build a life, a good life, close to home. The decisions we make here should give them confidence in that future. Our workers and researchers, businesses and communities are ready to build, and Bill C-39 would help the government do its part. Together, we can turn Alberta’s ambition into greater Canadian strength and create opportunities that will endure for generations. I urge all members to support Bill C-39.
