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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

166 statements

Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault

Liberal
“The previous speaker is wrong to say we have not started any major projects. Construction has already begun on a port, a highway, and power lines. We need this bill to help us build even more projects that will grow our economy.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned a few things in her speech that I think are inaccurate. She said that no projects have seen shovels in the ground, but that is completely false. I am thinking of the Contrecoeur port project, which began last spring, and the Mackenzie Valley Highway, which began construction this summer. I am also thinking of the electrical transmission project on the north shore, which got under way this year. Those are a few examples. Building projects of national interest means shovels in the ground. Thanks to Bill C‑39, we will continue to build even more. I encourage my colleague to review the list of projects of national interest that are being studied and to follow their progress very closely, because there is a lot of potential there for strengthening our economy.

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Cheryl Gallant

Conservative
“Those projects started before this bill became law, so this bill cannot take credit for them.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, all I can say is thank God those projects got started before Bill C-39 came into force.

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Arnold Viersen

Conservative
“This law is the reason no major projects get built in Canada. Nine pipelines were built under the previous government, and 14 gas projects were ready to go. They all disappeared under the Liberals. I want to hear my colleague's thoughts on this.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I am truly thankful for my colleague’s comments tonight on Bill C-69. We have not heard one Liberal in this place talk about it. It is fundamentally the problem and the reason there are no projects being built in this country. I want to remind the House that under Stephen Harper, we built nine major pipeline projects. We had 14 LNG projects ready to be built in this country, and after the Liberals came to power, all of those projects disappeared. I wonder what my colleague has to say about that.

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Cheryl Gallant

Conservative
“It will take a long time to fix the damage the last prime minister caused. The same people are still in power, and another environment minister could easily shut down projects again.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, it is going to take quite a while to make up for the damage the previous prime minister did. The problem is, we still have the same cast of characters here, and all it takes is another left-wing zealot to be in the position of environment minister and everything will shut down again.

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Sébastien Lemire

Bloc Québécois
“Does the member really think it is safe to put nuclear waste near the Ottawa River? Runoff could put millions of people in Ottawa, Gatineau, and Montreal at risk. Ontario should keep its own nuclear waste risks inside its borders instead of threatening Quebec.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, does my colleague seriously believe that it would be a good idea to set up a nuclear waste dump on a mountain top, knowing that the runoff would fall into the Ottawa River, 200 kilometres from here? The consequences could impact a population centre of 1.6 million here in the Gatineau-Ottawa region. The impact could then extend another 200 kilometres downstream to the Montreal area, affecting 80% or more of Quebec’s population. Spent nuclear waste has to be stored somewhere. There may be suitable locations in the Canadian Shield. If Ontario wants to assume those risks, it can manage them within its own borders, but they should not be imposed on Quebec.

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Cheryl Gallant

Conservative

Linked statement

“My colleague is wrong about this nuclear waste project. Low-level waste like used gloves and gowns is already buried in the ground. The plan is to move it into safer storage to clean up the land. Other sites like this are safe, natural, and have pure water. We need to stop delaying this project.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, my dear colleague has mischaracterized what this project is. Those used booties, gloves and gowns are already in the ground. The plan is to take those away from the outdated science that put it in the ground and put it into something safer. This is not Carp mountain, the hill of garbage. I would invite him to go to Cobourg, which has a near-surface disposal facility. It looks like it originally did, under nature. The water is tested. It is pure when it comes out. This is a good way to clean up our land. I would hope that the stalling done to prevent this from going forward moves to the side and allows our land to be remediated.

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More from sitting 146

All 42 items ·
  1. Government Orders Business of Supply 110 statements
  2. Oral Questions International Trade 13 statements
  3. Oral Questions The Environment 6 statements
  4. Oral Questions Taxation 16 statements
  5. Oral Questions Pensions 4 statements
  6. Oral Questions Taxation 10 statements
  7. Oral Questions National Defence 2 statements
  8. Oral Questions Canada Revenue Agency 4 statements
  9. Oral Questions Small Business 4 statements
  10. Oral Questions The Economy 4 statements
  11. Oral Questions Public Services and Procurement 6 statements
  12. Oral Questions Health 7 statements
  13. Oral Questions Natural Resources 2 statements
  14. Oral Questions Agriculture and Agri-Food 2 statements
  15. Oral Questions Indigenous Affairs 2 statements
  16. Oral Questions Democratic Institutions 5 statements
  17. Government Orders Business of Supply 42 statements
  18. Oral Questions Women and Gender Equality 3 statements
  19. Private Members' Business Youth Criminal Justice Act 11 statements
  20. Government Orders Business of Supply 22 statements
  21. Government Orders Building Canada Strong Act 7 statements
  22. Government Orders Building Canada Strong Act 166 statements
  23. Adjournment Proceedings Adjournment Proceedings 4 statements
  24. Adjournment Proceedings Adjournment Proceedings 4 statements