Mark Carney is celebrated abroad – while consolidating power at home | Shiri Pasternak
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is celebrated internationally for his Davos speech while at home he's centralizing power and rolling back environmental, Indigenous and labour rights through Bill C-39.
While celebrated abroad for his Davos speech addressing global power shifts, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is facing criticism at home for concentrating power and dismantling protections for environmental, Indigenous, and labour rights. His government's Building Canada Strong Act, Bill C-39, represents a significant shift in how major projects are approved in Canada.
Introduced on September 21 by Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon, the 250-page legislation expands previous fast-tracking measures from 'projects of national interest' to 'regions of national interest.' This designation could exempt vast areas from existing regulations, diminishing parliamentary sovereignty and bypassing local officials and affected communities.
Regulatory overhaul
The legislation eliminates independent environmental review boards, shifting decision-making for pipelines, nuclear facilities, and major infrastructure to bodies promoting these sectors. The Canada Energy Regulator now directly assesses energy projects, while the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission approves nuclear projects without cabinet oversight for most pipelines.
These changes follow lobbying by the oil and gas industry, which presented a wishlist of demands to accelerate project reviews. A public campaign by 14 company CEOs last March called on Carney to reverse former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's modest climate policies.
Carney believes it takes to make good on his oft-repeated promise that Canada 'has what the world wants'.
Indigenous rights impact
For Indigenous peoples, the rollback represents a significant threat to their constitutionally protected rights. The fast-tracked projects with guaranteed one-year decision timelines force communities to assess cumulative impacts early in the process, effectively eliminating their ability to influence project development given the time-consuming nature of such assessments.
This comes weeks after wildfire smoke from Canada's fossil fuel economy devastated First Nations communities in northern Ontario, causing mass evacuations and highlighting the environmental consequences of the current economic approach.
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