Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Amendment BQ-8 may seem rather technical but, in our view, is fundamental.
As far as the creation of the infrastructure bank is concerned, Bill C-44 brings about a major change, one that is totally absurd and has gone without mention. Amendment BQ-8 seeks to correct that.
The infrastructure bank would be the agent of the crown for all projects specified by the government. Paragraph 5(4)(d) of the proposed act stipulates that the infrastructure bank would be the agent of the crown whenever the government sees fit. That means the bank would be considered the representative of the federal government and enjoy all of the privileges and immunities that go along with that status.
Further in the new act, it is clear from subsection 18(c) that the privilege would extend to wholly private projects submitted to the infrastructure bank. According to the provision, the bank may “acquire and deal with as its own any investment made by another person”.
First of all, that gives private investors an unlimited loan guarantee. We are talking not just about the $20 billion that was announced but, rather, about an unlimited loan guarantee. That is ridiculous.
Second of all, that shelters those private investments from the jurisdiction of Quebec and municipalities because, under the new act, the investments and infrastructure projects are the federal government's. Unlike with the Champlain bridge project, for example, the government will no longer have to use its declaratory power to consider an investment as being exclusively under federal jurisdiction. That is a huge change that has gone overlooked and a terrible injustice, in our view.
What this change does is exempt investors from Quebec's laws and municipal bylaws. Quebec's environmental legislation will no longer be taken into account. TransCanada's energy east pipeline project could be approved without any BAPE hearings, as long as the investments are made through the infrastructure bank. Quebec's Act respecting the preservation of agricultural land and agricultural activities would also be tossed aside. Roads and every other type of infrastructure could be built in green areas. The change flouts Quebec's laws: city plans, land-use plans, and zoning bylaws. It is, in all likelihood, unconstitutional.
I don't understand why this change appears in Bill C-44. If the government persists in creating this infrastructure bank, it must, at the very least, do what we are asking and eliminate these abusive powers by removing subsection 5(4) of the new act. I hope my message came through loud and clear.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.