Finance Committee on Feb. 2nd, 2026

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

The way we have structured it is with a private sector consortium led by a Canadian pensions fund.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Yes, but it is Brookfield, which has a potential conflict of interest, very clearly documented. It is not just another private sector company. Will they be able to participate or not?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

There is currently no involvement by Brookfield in this project.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

They could be involved.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Well, yes, but Joe's Plumbing on my street could also be involved.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Then the answer is yes, they could be involved. There's nothing....

I have another question.

In Bill C-15, there is a provision that would grant ministers sweeping new powers to exempt any entity, corporation or individual from almost any federal law, with the exception of the Criminal Code. Why did you feel that was needed?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

I don't know what law you're referring to.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

It's clause 208 of division 5, part 5, where it is allowing any minister to exempt any entity from any provision of any law for which the minister is responsible, for a period of up to three years, with the exception of the Criminal Code.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Yes, that's the law that we both voted for. It's Bill C-5. It's the Building Canada Act.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

No, this was included in the budget implementation act. This was not included when the budget was presented in November. It was not debated exclusively, separately. It is here—

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

That's what we're doing now.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

—so why do you feel that you and the other ministers around you, as well as the Prime Minister, need the power to exempt anybody from any federal law, except for the Criminal Code?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

This is specifically designed at accelerating the progress and the ability to move, plan, contemplate and build large projects.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

You do recognize that now individuals or corporations are not going to have any interest in changing the law. They will just lobby you personally because you have that power.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

We had an open process in terms of procuring the partnership that I referred to earlier. It's called Cadence. That followed all of the openness and transparency requirements that are established in Canadian law.

We are not proposing here a significant modification of applicable law in respect to acquisition of property. We are proposing to shorten it, though.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Ms. Cobena. That concludes the time.

We will conclude this appearance with five minutes for Mr. MacDonald, please.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for coming.

If you would like to take the time to answer Mr. Garon—you were cut off—please go ahead, but do look into his eyes.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Garon began by saying that he was not opposed to the project. Frankly, he is right not to be opposed to the project. It is a project that has generated a lot of enthusiasm in Quebec, Ontario and the rest of Canada. We have been discussing it for a long time.

It is a linear infrastructure project. Even though the high-speed rail line will be fairly narrow, it will also be straight, because high-speed trains do not like curves. We want to act with the utmost respect, while taking into account the fact that this is a narrow corridor, as was contemplated in Mr. Garon’s riding with the Highway 13 extension project, which is part of the Quebec infrastructure plan. We will do this work using the lessons learned from the past. Yes, there were expropriations in Mirabel, and that left scars. So we will act with the utmost sensitivity. However, the situation is not the same at all in terms of land requirements, subject to the specific and unique aspects of the project I just mentioned, such as the fact that the route will be straight. We will proceed in Mirabel as we will elsewhere in Quebec, that is, by following the principle of mutual agreement. This is preferable. We will take rights-of-way near other public rights-of-way whenever possible, while collaborating with municipalities and provinces. We can therefore imagine that the route will follow corridors such as highways or power lines where possible.

However, I don’t like it when people draw analogies from the past when they are not perfectly congruent with what we are trying to do. I spoke to some young people from the Mirabel area who are very excited about being able to go to Laval and then take a train to Quebec City or Ottawa in a very short time. This feeling also exists in the Lower Laurentians, as it does everywhere else. I went to Trois-Rivières, in the Mauricie region, where people are very excited about the possibilities for economic development. At the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, the possibility of developing this campus, the possibility of—

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Minister, that's wonderful news for Quebec. I want to get a little bit in about P.E.I.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Yes, okay. I know a little bit about that, too.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Coming from P.E.I., we both should know a little bit about the requirement for efficient and reliable transportation.

Since our government took office in April, we know that the Prime Minister has been focused on investing in infrastructure projects and investing in Canadians.

On August 1, we had a reduction announcement in P.E.I. The ferry crossings fares were reduced by 50% and the Confederation Bridge toll was reduced to $20. That had a major impact on the P.E.I. economy, even though it was only announced August 1.

In terms of the P.E.I. ferry service, they had 100,000 more passengers to the Wood Islands ferry in my region over 2024. We can see the impact that improved transportation systems create.

Could you speak quickly to what P.E.I.'s experience is and then look at what this high-speed rail project can do for business, for tourism and for those people who live along those junctions of the proposed route?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

I know how important safe, reliable and efficient transportation corridors are when you're born on an island. That gets brought home in significant ways. We live in Canada, we live in a country where we always have to look at the weather.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Minister. That concludes the—

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Are we out of time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

We're out of time for this—I'm sorry—but because we started a bit late, we still have time for another....