Debates of Oct. 6th, 2026

Building Canada Strong Act

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask him why he would not vote for this bill now to move Canada forward.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his contribution to this debate.

I am having a hard time reconciling what my colleague and his Prime Minister are saying, namely that Bill C-39 does not lower standards. That seems completely wrong to me.

Bill C-39 will make it possible to designate areas of national interest, and within those areas, about a dozen laws and seven regulations will not apply. This will allow for projects that destroy fish habitats without having to seek authorization under the Fisheries Act.

How can my colleague say that we are upholding environmental standards when, for all projects in regions of national interest, we are going to set aside some 20 laws and get the required authorizations even if it means destroying the environment?

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer this response to my colleague. As I said in my speech, this is not about eliminating standards, but about reducing duplication. It is also about making processes more consistent and predictable. Our approach is to make Canada stronger and better equipped.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in his speech, my colleague spoke at length about the fact that the aim of the bill was to move projects along more quickly. I note that he, too, shares this desire; no doubt the people he represents are asking for this as well.

Can my colleague tell us in concrete terms how his community, the workers in his community and those across Canada will be impacted by the bill?

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-39 will truly modernize, strengthen and speed up processes. Earlier, I spoke about standardizing e-document transfers, which would reduce red tape. There is the Contrecoeur port project on Montreal's south shore. This is a major project that will bring significant innovation and generate many new jobs in the region. Thanks to Bill C-39, projects like this will move forward more quickly, as we bring our regulations into line with international standards.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we know, Bill C‑39 means that environmental assessments will be conducted much more quickly. Approvals should be made much faster. We also know that, over the past 10 years, there have been a number of people in the Liberal caucus who really liked environmental studies because they delayed certain projects.

Is the caucus now unanimous, including the people who really wanted to delay projects?

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians elected a new government, and they have a majority government. I think we are in good stead with Canadians.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a specific question for my colleague. Why does he agree that a project in an area deemed of national interest can move forward, even if it is contributing to the disappearance of a species at risk?

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, Bill C‑39 does not eliminate standards. Instead, it reduces duplication. This bill addresses a need. Canada needs it now to diversify on the global stage.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to speak to Bill C‑39, which addresses an issue that is fundamental to the future of our country, namely Canada's ability to build the infrastructure we need, develop our resources, attract investment and make decisions within a time frame that corresponds to the economic reality we are living in.

I believe it is necessary to take action to ensure prosperity and to support all initiatives that are good for Canada and that strengthen our resilience. It is hard to be against virtue. It is crucial to make Canada stronger at a time when it may never have been so weak.

That is the task we set for ourselves during the mandate of Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. Our mission was to build a strong Canada, proud and free. We were able to do that. I truly believe that Canada would have reached new heights if we had been able to stay in the driver's seat. Unfortunately, things turned out differently, and the Liberal era has been one of decline in almost every aspect of society.

However, in Bill C‑39, the Liberals finally acknowledge that they have gone too far with regulation and red tape and that it has hurt investment. Where Bill C‑39 is commendable is in its adoption of Conservative positions that we have been hammering home for 10 years in the House of Commons. We need to simplify overly complex federal processes, reduce excessively long approval times and eliminate regulatory overlaps between the different levels of government.

Among other things, the bill proposes to better coordinate the process and target federal decisions within one year of a complete application. That is exactly what our Conservative leader has been hammering home in every forum available to him over the past few years.

Let us be honest: For too long in Canada, we have talked about building so much more than we have actually built.

I will say it simply: If the government is serious, we will consider the legislation that will truly speed up construction in Canada.

When a measure can get a project built faster, get a worker a job faster or allow a company to invest in Canada instead of investing elsewhere, we have a duty to take a serious look at it. However, there is one condition: It has to work. That is where we are going to be very vigilant. Canadians have heard a lot of promises in recent years. They heard governments announce new ways of doing things, but it was often just new red tape, new bureaucracy.

Since the new Prime Minister took office, the government has increasingly embraced Conservative themes. It speaks in terms of productivity, competitiveness, major projects, economic security and resource development. It now recognizes that Canada needs to build and cannot afford to stand still in a world where our partners and competitors are engaged in an investment race.

Again, I will give the government the benefit of the doubt when it puts forward measures that can actually make a difference. However, it is important to understand one thing: Changing one's language is not the same as changing reality.

Let us look at the energy sector. Canada sits on extraordinary energy resources. We have oil, natural gas, hydroelectricity, uranium and energy expertise that is recognized worldwide. We also have critical minerals that our international partners rely on to keep their economies going.

However, at times we have appeared unable to reach consensus on a basic principle: that Canada's natural resources should be developed responsibly to generate prosperity, create jobs and strengthen economic security for all Canadians.

What we cannot do is have all these resources, the workers, the entrepreneurs, the capital and the potential markets, yet be unable to make a decision when a project is put forward. When that happens, investment goes elsewhere, and once investment goes elsewhere, it does not always come back.

Meanwhile, the United States is investing heavily in its infrastructure and industrial capacity, European countries are seeking to strengthen their energy security, and Asian economies are seeking to secure their supply chains. Governments around the world understand that the ability to produce, transport and export goods has become a matter of economic security.

While Canada has all the resources it needs to play a major role on the international stage, and even possesses numerous competitive advantages over the United States, it is lagging behind. According to the Montreal Economic Institute, business investment per worker has fallen from $20,900 in 2014 to $17,600 in 2024. That is a 16% drop over 10 years. Over the same period, the United States increased its investment per worker by 26%. The question, then, is whether we will finally seize the opportunity to set ourselves apart.

This is where I want to come back to what should be the guiding principle of our approach to Bill C-39. The Liberals' intentions are not what matter here; results are. The government can tell us it wants to reduce delays. We will look at the delays. It can tell us it wants to attract investment. We will look at investments. It can tell us it wants to develop natural resources. We will look at the projects that are actually being built. It can tell us it wants to diversify Canada's markets. We will look at new infrastructure and new exports.

At some point, we have to move from talk to action, from words to deeds. I think that is precisely what Canadians expect from their representatives. We are going to ask tough questions, demand assurances, demand accountability, demand timelines, and demand results because the Liberals have gotten us used to plenty of announcements, but results that are slow in coming. If the Liberal government truly wants to turn the page on this way of doing things, then today is its chance to prove it.

I believe that is the real challenge of Bill C-39. This bill could mark a change in direction, and we must ensure that this new direction leads to a Canada that builds more, produces more, exports more, and provides more opportunities for its workers and businesses. If next year we are still here talking about the same delays, the same obstacles, and the same projects that are still awaiting approval, we will have to be honest and admit that the change will have been nothing more than a change in rhetoric, and that will be a failure.

We have the natural resources, the workers, the entrepreneurs, the expertise, and the business partnerships around the world. What we need to regain is the confidence to invest, the predictability to plan, and the political courage to make decisions and that is what we will be looking for in Bill C-39. Will it truly help speed up projects? Will it truly reduce duplication? Will it truly give investors clarity on what to expect? If the answer is yes, then the government may earn our trust to support it. If the answer is no, then we will have to ask the government to go much further, because Canada cannot afford to wait.

We will not judge this government by its intentions. We will judge it by what it builds. We will judge it by the investments it succeeds in attracting. We will judge it by the jobs it helps create. We will judge it by the infrastructure that is being built, because Canada has everything it needs to succeed. If the government truly wants to turn the page on the legacy of the Trudeau era, if it truly wants to demonstrate that Canada is back in the business of major investments, it should not do so merely through speeches, press releases, or bills, but on the ground, in our regions, our ports, our railways, our industries and our businesses. That is where the success of Bill C-39 will be measured.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and his contribution. In his speech he said that the environmental assessments were used to hold up projects. I find that fascinating and I would like him to elaborate on that. Is that what he really thinks?

Does he think that environmental assessment processes were put in place to calculate the environmental impact of projects such as pipelines, not with the aim of getting answers and trying to ensure that projects are improved or that bad projects are blocked, but with the aim of slowing down projects? Is that really what he thinks?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, everything I have seen in Bill C-39 aims to significantly shorten the timelines for the environmental assessment and approval process. We are talking about time frames that could be as short as one year.

At one point in time, it took eight years. The government is now proposing a time frame of one year. As early as 2007, I said on LCN that the goal should be to complete the process within one to two years. Ultimately, projects must be allowed to proceed. We will review this issue at committee and see what we can do about it.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the government is moving forward. Bill C-39 is all about speeding up a process and providing assurances that Canada wants to build. Let us look at what took place in Toronto last month, when the Prime Minister hosted world investors with literally historic amounts of money brought to the table, half a trillion dollars. Whether it is that particular special event or the amount of collaboration between Ottawa and the provinces in developing major projects, it is all part of a bigger picture to build a stronger and healthier Canada for all.

Would the member not agree that a holistic approach is the best way of moving forward and doing what I just said?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is music to my ears to hear my colleague, who has been a member of this House for the past 10 years all the while advocating for lengthy environmental studies and processes.

The previous government, under Trudeau, undermined investor confidence. This government is now playing catch-up, trying to attract foreign investment so that investors come to Canada. The Liberals should have been doing that work sooner. They should have continued what we were doing prior to 2015. Investors from all over the world wanted to invest in Canada. They shattered investor confidence and now we have to start all over again.

At least, hearing that sort of talk is music to my ears.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague gave an excellent speech. I share his cautious approach. We need to see how this bill will be applied in practice. I would like to ask him what he is hearing from his constituents about Bill C‑39.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. It is very relevant. People want approvals to be done faster. They want less paperwork and less bureaucracy. Our entrepreneurs want a better Canada, a richer Canada and they want to ensure their employees have good jobs. They want prosperity for everyone.

However, when we hit a wall in terms of government paperwork at the federal and other levels, it makes no sense. A bill that would allow us to move faster and restore Canada's great entrepreneurial pride would be wonderful.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to get a clear indication of the position of the Conservatives on the legislation itself. Is it their intent to vote in favour of the legislation so it can go to committee? Does the member know how the Conservative members will vote on the legislation?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I said in my speech, we really want the 240 pages of this bill to be studied properly, line by line, to ensure that Canada's future will be more prosperous. I look forward to taking part in that.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre—Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak to Bill C-39, the building Canada strong act. Last year, we asked Canadians for a mandate to build a stronger, more resilient and more prosperous Canada. This legislation is the latest step in our work to turn that promise into action.

It is important to consider the legislation in the context of the time in which we live right now and where Canada finds itself as a country. These are challenging times for Canada. For generations, our economy has been built on a north-south axis. Canada and the United States are long-time friends, neighbours and allies. We have the world's longest undefended border. We fought side by side in two wars. We share language and culture, comedians and hockey players. We vacation in each other's countries. We pop across the border for groceries or to fill up the gas tank. We have built highly interconnected joint shared economies. More trade flows north-south than east-west. In Detroit and Windsor, car components will go back and forth several times before rolling off the assembly line. Lumber will leave British Columbia, harvested from our vast forests, and come back to Vancouver as furniture.

This relationship has worked because of shared values, principles and interests; because of stability; and because of the shared belief that we need each other and that disputes between friends, when they arise, can be resolved amicably.

However, those days are over. We see an administration in the United States that no longer shares our values and principles and no longer sees Canada as in its national interest. It values chaos over stability and is unpredictable. Even if we accept that the current relationship is an aberration and not the new status quo, the fact is that this administration and the trade war it has foolishly launched have made one stark truth painfully clear: An economy built on one trading partner, one critical relationship, with all our eggs in one basket, is an economy built on a foundation of sand. Even if we see a return in the United States to a predictable and principled relationship built on shared principles and shared values, we still cannot, and must not, go back to the way things were.

The United States will always be our most important trading partner and an important ally. We share too much geography and too much culture. As President Kennedy famously said when addressing this House of Commons in 1961:

Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.

However, this does not mean we cannot build a more resilient economy, one that does not just sell to one partner. As the Prime Minister has said, Canada has what the world needs. Building Canada strong means building a more confident Canada, a more robust Canada and a Canada that looks to global markets with confidence in who we are and what we bring to the table. A stronger Canada is a more resilient Canada that does not rely on just one trading partner.

As former prime minister Pierre Trudeau said at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in 1969, about America:

Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.

It will not be easy. America is right there. Building new supply chains, entering new markets and learning new regulatory environments is not easy. It takes time and investment. That is how we build Canada strong, and that is what this bill is all about: how we can accelerate project approvals while upholding indigenous rights and the highest environmental standards, how we can build and strengthen economic resilience through stronger supply chains, and how we can modernize and protect labour rights for the workforce that will build Canada strong.

Let us start with project approvals. We have spoken about setting the goal of one year, one decision. Bill C-39 would establish the framework necessary to ensure that the federal government can get to a yes, or a no, on major project evaluations within one year of a complete project submission.

How does that happen? It happens by running the necessary project evaluations and assessments concurrently rather than consecutively. That just makes sense. It does not mean lowering standards at all, which is important to note. It means doing the same rigorous evaluations and holding projects to the same high standards, just making the process more efficient. The bill would also ensure that indigenous consultation is embedded in the process, because indigenous free and informed consent is not just another box to tick. It is our obligation.

Let us turn to reinforcing economic resilience. How can we keep Canada moving? With this bill, Canada would create strategic trade corridors and establish a dedicated transportation project office to keep the trade flowing. It seeks to modernize our ports with new digital trade strategies and updated port governance so that our ports would be better positioned to compete with the world. It seeks to provide clear and predictable rules to attract long-term capital investment. We want partners to invest in Canada not just for today but for future generations. Businesses have choices about where they invest their capital. They want jurisdictions that offer predictable processes, transparent regulation and a level of certainty. That is what these changes seek to support.

Finally, let us turn to labour rights. I believe firmly in the collective bargaining process. Unions have fought for many of the rights that today's workers take for granted, like the 40-hour workweek and paid sick leave. I believe the best deals between management and labour are made at the table. Bill C-39 seeks to strengthen protections for unionized and federally regulated workers. This bill seeks to empower collective bargaining by making Labour Code amendments that would help parties address workplace issues earlier and reach negotiated agreements faster, while protecting the fundamental right to withhold labour through job action.

We are boosting federal enforcement capacity by funding 100 new health and safety officers, which will increase inspection capacity by 70%. The legislation also aims to clear backlogs at the Canada Industrial Relations Board through the hiring of 26 new staff.

This legislation would establish transparency and guardrails around the government's use of section 107 to end a labour disruption, by making it a requirement for the minister to consider independent mediator reports and national interest impacts before any decision to intervene. Intervention in a labour dispute should be the rare exception, the last resort. As I have said, the best, most durable and longest-lasting agreements are made at the table with management and labour negotiating fairly and in good faith. However, if intervention is deemed necessary, the process and the reasons must be transparent so that Canadians can decide whether the action was truly necessary.

Building Canada strong is not easy, and it is not glamorous. It will not be done by the government. It is Canadians who will build Canada strong. It is the Canadian household that chooses to eat saskatoon berries with their breakfast, grill Alberta beef for dinner and have Ontario peaches for dessert. It is the Canadian business that decides to sell into a new market or procure raw materials from a supplier in a new country. The role of the government is to create the environment that makes it easier, predictable and more profitable to choose Canada. That is what this bill seeks to do, and by supporting it, we are helping Canadians to build Canada strong.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague referred to the ability to have ingredients from multiple provinces for breakfast, lunch and dinner and talked about building Canada strong. I am wondering if she could update us on the progress of eliminating interprovincial trade barriers.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre—Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our mandate is to build Canada strong and to build right now. We have approved projects of national interest, and those projects are shovel-ready.

It is really more than important, in the era we are living in, to make sure of these projects, and also that interprovincial trade barriers are eliminated, so that we can have one approval process. Nation-building projects have to be built faster.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her contribution.

I have a very simple question for her: What is a region of national interest?

Can she define it? That is one of the major changes that Bill C‑39 makes. When a region is determined to be of national interest, all projects in that area will be exempt from complying with 20 or so laws and obtaining authorizations.

What is a region of national interest?

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre—Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this bill, the building Canada strong act, has been introduced to transform how Canada builds. It would bring greater speed, certainty and predictability to project reviews so that Canada can build projects faster. The world is changing rapidly, and Canada is focused on what we can control: building within Canada a stronger economy and a stronger one Canada.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague talked about the importance of building quickly. She mentioned, of course, lots of products. I would encourage her to buy Nova Scotia lobster too. We will add that to her list of great Canadian products from across the country.

When I am at home in Nova Scotia, my business community talks about the need to move quicker. The hon. member is from Scarborough Centre—Don Valley East. Maybe she could give the House a bit of a reflection on the conversations she is having with her business community about why this bill is so important.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre—Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, of course, we have to add lobster to our menus also.

It is important to remember the context in which the government is bringing this bill forward. We are in a trade war with our largest trade partner, which we did not see, but we cannot back away from it. We need to diversify our economy with new investments and trading partners. I heard from the businesses in my riding in the summer that we need to diversify our trade, and having all our eggs in one basket is not how we build a stronger Canada for future generations. That is why it is really important that we build faster and make sure that projects of national interest get built quicker.