OTTAWA / The traditional, unceded, and unsurrendered territory of the Anishinàbe Algonquin Nation – On October 21, Members of Parliament from the Bloc Québécois, NDP and Green Party joined a press conference with environmental and labour groups and scientists to call for Parliament to scrap controversial Bill C-39. Speakers criticized C-39 for being an unprecedented dismantling of Canada’s environmental law safety net, undermining Indigenous rights and authority, and an attack on workers' ability to fight for their rights.
The press conference occurred as special committees in the House of Commons and Senate rush through their studies of the Bill in order to pass it by the end of the year. Experts and Parliamentarians have expressed concern about this rushed timeline due to the breadth and complexity of the 240-page Bill, which amends 19 laws and four regulations, enacts a new law and repeals a law.
Anna Johnston, staff lawyer, West Coast Environmental Law:
“This week, as parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity gather in Armenia to turn their nature commitments into action, Parliamentarians are fast-tracking their study of Bill C-39, a law that will let Ministers remove measures that are protecting endangered species, let Cabinet establish nature sacrifice zones and establish timelines that undermine Indigenous peoples’ rights. Bill C-39 is an unprecedented dismantling of our environmental law safety net and Parliament needs to hit the brakes on it.”
Patrick Bonin, Member of Parliament and Bloc Québécois spokesperson on the Environment and Climate Change:
“The government wants us to believe that the economy and the environment are at odds, a false narrative designed to make us swallow Bill C-39. The trade war will not last forever, but Bill C-39 will. With this bill, the Liberals are taking unprecedented steps backward on the environment, workers’ rights, endangered species, and the protection of nature and territories. C-39 bulldozes nature to build pipelines and tramples on the rights of Indigenous peoples in the process. At a time when Canada faces an unprecedented democratic and environmental setback, a united front is coming together to condemn the government's reckless approach and reject Bill C-39. Under Mark Carney's Liberals, decades of hard-won environmental progress are being pushed aside. There is a limit to exploiting the tariff crisis to benefit oil and gas companies. We are standing up against this bill, and we will continue to work alongside civil society organizations and First Nations demanding that the government withdraw it."
Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament and Leader of the Green Party of Canada:
“Like the Building Canada Act (C-5), the government's new Bill C-39 Build Canada Strong Act is built on a pile of untested assumptions. The Carney administration seems to equate environmental and health protections with "red tape" and unnecessary delays. But the planning process is improved and execution more likely to succeed when evidence is assessed before final decisions are made. Way back in the late 1980s, the Mulroney administration brought forward environmental assessment legislation to ensure decisions were reviewed based on evidence "as early in the planning process as possible and before irrevocable decisions are made." This government wants to do the opposite. Get the bulldozers rolling without evidence. This approach risks our economic health while gutting protections for nature and climate action.”
Don Davies, Member of Parliament and Parliamentary and House Leader for New Democratic Party:
“Bill C-39 attacks workers’ constitutional rights, weakens environmental protections, undermines Indigenous rights and concentrates unprecedented power in the hands of Cabinet ministers. This is a disturbing pattern that is emerging from the Carney government. New Democrats believe in building big things—affordable homes, modern infrastructure, clean energy, strong public services and good union jobs—but lasting prosperity cannot be built by stripping away the safeguards that protect workers, communities and future generations. Legislation of this scale deserves careful scrutiny and meaningful public consultation not a rubber stamp.”
Patrick Gloutney, General Vice President for Quebec, Canadian Union of Public Employees:
“The right to strike is not a privilege the government grants us when it suits its interests. It is a constitutional right. In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada made that clear in its Saskatchewan ruling: this right is protected by the Charter. This is not a union opinion; it is the supreme law of the land.”
Marie Auger-Méthé, Associate Professor, Department of Statistics and Institute for the Oceans & Fisheries, University of British Columbia:
“Decisions about major projects and their permitting should be informed by science. Bill C-39, along with the current fast-track procedures for its passage through Parliament, will potentially create a system in which expert voices are sidelined, leading to poorly informed decisions. We urge the government to stop rushing the bill through Parliament and to ensure that it is revised to meet its stated goal: building projects while maintaining strong environmental protections. We owe it to our kids.”
Charles-Edouard Têtu, Climate and Energy Policy Analyst, Équiterre:
“Bill C-39 will not resolve the economic problems caused by the trade war or make life more affordable, any more than Bill C-5 did. Canadians do not want the American model of environmental deregulation. Mark Carney must do better and develop a Canadian approach that maintains existing environmental protections, strengthens community resilience, and protects nature and biodiversity.”
Patricia Clermont, PhD, Head of the Association québécoise des médecins pour l’environnement (AQME):
“Environmental health is inextricably linked to human health and healthcare costs. Any bill that subordinates health to economic development runs counter to a country’s true best interests: ensuring that everyone living within its borders can enjoy a healthy environment. The climate crisis constantly reminds us that these limits are being undermined by an economy focused on resource extraction that treats environmental damage as collateral and inevitable. We know it is possible to build an economy that is both strong and healthy while taking environmental health into account and prioritizing renewable energy and its responsible use within planetary boundaries. That is the direction we must take—and why we must oppose Bill C-39.”
Geneviève Paul, Executive Director, Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE):
“Bill C-39 must be withdrawn: it is an omnibus bill that grants sweeping, permanent powers to a handful of people. The federal government is giving itself the power to circumvent laws to approve projects, disregarding the risks to public health, the land, and democracy.”
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