Major projects bill ‘One Canadian Economy Act’ passes at House of Commons

MPs at the House of Commons in Ottawa voted in favour of the Liberal government’s controversial Bill C-5, known as the One Canadian Economy Act.

The bill aims to tackle internal trade barriers and grants the government sweeping powers to approve major projects that are deemed to be in the national interest.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the bill is the core of Canada’s domestic economic response to U.S. tariffs.

The Liberal government’s new legislation will let the cabinet quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects, like mines, ports, and pipelines.

The house speaker ruled that the bill be separated into two separate votes Friday afternoon.

The bill is essentially two pieces of legislation rolled into one: the first part aims at breaking down internal trade barriers, while the second part grants the government the ability to designate major projects to be in the national interest, then fast track their approval.

The Bloc Québécois called for the bill to be split, to allow MPs more time to study the measures that deal with major projects.

The bill is not without criticism, specifically the major projects piece.

Indigenous and environmental groups have said the bill is being rushed through parliament and will give the government too much power.

Meanwhile, the business community and building trades praise the bill, saying it can take longer to get projects approved than to get them built.

With the Liberals selling the bill as a way to combat U.S. tariffs, Peter Graefe, an associate professor of political science at McMaster University, said he doesn’t believe the bill will have a huge impact.

“Tariffs from the U.S. are really a danger to our manufacturing sector, and in a way the response in terms of the Build Canada Act, is to go back from ripping stuff out of the ground and hoping to ship it places – so a step backwards in terms of the complexity of our economy,” said Graefe. “The interprovincial free trade could allow for some efficiency gains and improvements, but again it’s really not going to face large structural issues about what happens to our steel and our auto sectors.”

The entirety of Bill C-5 was passed in the House of Commons.

It is similar to legislation in Ontario that passed recently that gives Premier Doug Ford and his government power to suspend municipal and provincial laws for chosen projects through the creation of economic zones.

Opposition of this bill is still strong from many First Nations.

READ MORE: Liberals table bill to speed up project approval, remove interprovincial trade barriers