Latest news with #IndigenousGroups
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Canada passes law fast-tracking nation building projects to counter Trump
Canada's parliament has passed a landmark bill giving Prime Minister Mark Carney's government new powers to fast-track major national One Canadian Economy Act was passed by the Senate on Thursday, and allows the cabinet to streamline approvals processes and bypass certain provisions of federal laws for projects that could boost the have argued the legislation is a critical step in reducing Canada's dependence on the United States, amid trade tensions sparked by President Donald Trump's it has been criticised by Indigenous groups and environmental activists who say expediting the projects could stifle opposition voices. The legislation does not determine what will be built, but the prime minister has previously signalled that it could be used to construct energy corridors, such as pipelines and electricity grids, and expand mines and act will "remove trade barriers, expedite nation-building projects, and unleash economic growth, with Indigenous partnership at the centre of this growth," Carney said last government said the act will reduce barriers for internal trade and labour mobility. It will also give the government sweeping powers to approve projects "that are in the national interest". That has alarmed Indigenous leaders, who fear they will not be consulted adequately before such projects are passage of the bill into law is a significant victory for Carney, and upholds an election promise to remove interprovincial barriers by Canada Day on 1 July. Trump has imposed tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium and its auto sector. Carney had campaigned heavily on bolstering the country's economy to counter tariff threats from the US, with whom Canada does the bulk of its Prosper, a Nova Scotia senator who belongs to the Mi'kmaq Indigenous group, unsuccessfully attempted to insert an amendment that would require consent from Indigenous groups before a project could go ahead. He criticised the speed with which the legislation passed, saying that rights holders could have been consulted by "investing a few more months". He said he supports development, but the law could allow the government and industry leaders to ignore Indigenous rights. "No one wants to watch our children grow up in squalor, with no access to clean drinking water, no opportunity for good-paying jobs and no support for our sick and dying. However, we do not want success and progress to come on the backs of Indigenous Peoples," he said in the Senate, as quoted by CBC. However a supporter of the bill, Senator Hassan Yussuff, said it was a response to an "urgent and immediate crisis", in comments reported by legislation states that the government will consult with Indigenous peoples before fast-tracking a project.
National Post
6 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Senate adopts Carney's fast-tracked major projects bill — well before Canada Day deadline
OTTAWA — The Senate adopted Prime Minister Mark Carney's internal trade and major projects bill without amendments on Thursday, making it the first government bill to pass through all stages during the spring sitting of Parliament and receive royal assent. Article content That means that Carney will make good on his election campaign promise to eliminate all federal barriers to interprovincial trade by Canada Day to have 'one Canadian economy.' Article content Article content The legislation has two parts. The Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada, which had support across party lines in the House of Commons, aims to eliminate internal trade and labour mobility barriers in Canada. Article content Article content The Building Canada Act, which would give cabinet sweeping powers to fast-track natural resource and infrastructure projects deemed in the national interest, has raised considerably more concerns from Indigenous peoples and environmental groups. Article content To speed up the legislative process, the Senate conducted a 'pre-study' of C-5 last week as the bill was being studied in a House of Commons committee. It was adopted at third reading in the House by a majority of MPs last Friday. Amendments were made to the bill by opposition parties in a bid for more transparency and to exempt federal laws such as the Indian Act from being circumvented to approve major projects. Still, some Indigenous groups claimed their treaty rights might not be respected. Article content Article content Mi'kmaq Senator Paul Prosper attempted to stall the rapid adoption of C-5 by moving an amendment that the bill include the principle of 'free, prior and informed consent' from First Nations, Inuit or Métis peoples before nation-building projects can move ahead. Article content 'I am confident that, by investing a few more months into this bill and ensuring that rights holders had an opportunity to share their thoughts and offer renditions, we would have seen this bill pass with overwhelming support. But I suppose now we will never know.' Article content Quebec Senator Pierre Dalphond argued that the government had to take 'bold action' quickly with C-5 to reinforce Canada's economy and create jobs, given the current trade war caused by U.S. President Donald Trump and the layoffs occurring as a result. Article content 'I trust the courts to stand firm and intervene if the government falls short of its obligations to our Indigenous peoples,' said Dalphond, a former court of appeal judge. Article content Prosper's amendment was defeated, as were all the other proposed amendments in the Senate. Having the upper chamber propose amendments to C-5 would have forced MPs to return to the House to vote on them before the bill could receive royal assent.
CTV News
6 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Brazeau recovering after collapsing in Senate Wednesday due to ‘dizzy spell'
Sen. Patrick Brazeau speaks to media as he returns to his Senate office in Ottawa on Thursday, July 14, 2016. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) Sen. Patrick Brazeau is recovering after a 'dizzy spell' made him 'briefly lose consciousness' during debate in the Senate on the government's major projects bill, a Senate spokesman said Thursday. The 50-year-old Independent senator rose to speak before falling sideways to the floor just after 4 p.m. Wednesday. Based on video of the incident, it was apparent that Brazeau knew something was wrong just before he fell. The Senate spokesman said Brazeau was taken to Ottawa's Civic Hospital and returned home later that evening. The spokesman said Brazeau is 'recovering and in good spirits.' Brazeau was alert when paramedics came to help him in the Senate chamber Tuesday afternoon, according to the spokesman. He added the senator is grateful to paramedics, Senate colleagues and hospital staff for their 'excellent' care. Speaker Raymonde Gagné suspended proceedings for roughly half an hour after Brazeau collapsed and many senators left the chamber until she reconvened the debate. Brazeau was about to speak on Bill C-5 when he fell. C-5 is a controversial bill meant to give Ottawa the power to fast-track 'national interest' project permits to boost the economy. The politically charged legislation has angered Indigenous and environmental groups who argue it does not adequately respect Charter rights and should not have been fast-tracked through Parliament. — With files from Dylan Robertson and Alessia Passafiume. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025. David Baxter, The Canadian Press
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘An urgent need': Alberta cabinet minister says Bill C-5 needed to fast track nation building projects
Edmonton Centre MP Eleanor Olszewski speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about Bill C-5 and more on Alberta Primetime. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Michael Higgins: Let's start on Bill C-5. Why rush it through before rising for the summer? Especially considering the degree of opposition from Indigenous groups and environmental groups? Eleanor Olszewski: I would start off by saying that there is an imperative to building projects, Canadian projects, national projects. It's an imperative in terms of national security and in terms of our economy as well. The prime minister and cabinet understand that. There was, in my view, and in the view of many, quite an urgent need to get the legislation in place quickly so that we can get nation building projects moving. MH: Given the pressure that is building on your government to get many of those nation building projects underway, a lot of the loudest voices are here in Alberta. How do you respond to the Albertans that say pipelines, energy corridors, need to be at the top of the list? EO: I would respond very favourably to that. In fact, I met a number of energy leaders at a roundtable in Calgary a few weeks ago with the prime minister and others and they were very excited to hear that we were moving forward with this legislation. It means a lot in terms of economic predictability, in terms of smoothing over the uncertainty, not just from the U.S. tariffs, but all of the uncertainty that surrounds the tariffs. The indirect result of uncertainty as well. That really is a hamper on investment in this province. So they were quite excited to have this bill move ahead. MH: You mentioned Calgary during the G7 Summit. We saw you on the tarmac greeting many of the leaders. At the same time, you were shoulder to shoulder with Premier Danielle Smith. Where do things stand in building new relations with the Alberta government, especially considering your portfolio responsibilities now in the Carney cabinet? EO: I think that relationship is in a very good place. I've had, through the emergency management side of things, the opportunity to have a number of discussions with Mike Ellis and he's the deputy premier but also my counterpart in terms of emergency management in Alberta. I also had the opportunity to spend quite a few hours of time, as you mentioned, on the tarmac with Premier Smith and I think that was a really good use of time, in terms of building a relationship with her. We had some really constructive discussions and some constructive discussions with the mayor of Calgary, who was also on the tarmac. All of those things bode really well for the federal relationship with Alberta. Certainly from my perspective I consider it fundamental to have a cooperative and collaborative relationship with the province. I'm this province's voice in cabinet as well and that's a responsibility that I take very seriously. MH: You bring up deputy premier Mike Ellis. You've very suddenly landed in cabinet with a very important portfolio at a time of year where a lot of provinces are struggling. There are growing calls for creation of a national fire service. Where does that sit on the priorities list? EO: That's actually a number one priority. What I learned over the last number of weeks is there are indeed some gaps in how we deliver emergency management and there's room for some changes. Certainly from my perspective, the safety of Canadians is absolutely top of mind, a top priority. Myself and my department, we'll be looking at changes we can make which will include considering whether or not there should be a national strategy, and if so, what would that look like? Does it cover how we deal with firefighters and bringing over international firefighters? Does it cover provision of equipment such as water bombers? There's a lot of work to do in the next few months and I'm optimistic that by August we'll have a plan for making some changes to the Emergency Management Protocol. MH: The other half of your cabinet portfolio, community resilience. What are you diving into there and how does that impact Alberta? EO: Just with respect to community resilience in general. It's basically making sure that we deal with wildfires and other emergency incidents by preparing for them properly. So by mitigating, by taking steps to make sure that we can keep communities safe. That might be something like in the case of a town that has only one access road, and in the case where there might be a fire on both sides of that road. It's thinking about what we can do in advance to make sure that people in that community are protected. That might mean a different access road leading to a field where we can evacuate people from a small airstrip. It might mean things like ensuring that building codes are appropriate given the situation. With respect to wildfires and other emergencies, it might mean using different kinds of shingles for example, in certain kinds of communities. It might mean having a proper plan for evacuating, especially remote communities. That was one of the most difficult things that we did, certainly in the province of Manitoba, is evacuate First Nations peoples from very small communities that don't have road access, that have a very tiny airstrip, and you can't land a Hercules to evacuate people. So you're bringing helicopters in and moving people out a few at a time. This is the kind of thing that we deal with in terms of emergency management. MH: In the span of a number of weeks you've gone from running to be an MP, to landing in a very key portfolio in the Carney cabinet. What does the road forward look like? EO: It looks busy, I can tell you that. I'm just remembering having a discussion with you, it seems like a few short weeks ago, and I think I had my Canada Strong t-shirt on and a jacket. To your point, things have changed so much for me, and the road ahead is very optimistic. I am very proud indeed to be part of this government. I'm very proud to be a voice for my province and for my city and for my riding. Although this moment in time has a lot of challenges, it's also going to provide us with many economic opportunities, opportunities to strengthen relations with other countries and to reduce our dependence on the United States.
Bloomberg
25-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Carney Energy Chief Seeks Indigenous Equity in Major Projects
As Prime Minister Mark Carney's government prepares to plow forward on major new energy and infrastructure projects, his natural resources minister says he wants Indigenous groups to pursue large ownership stakes in them. 'If we are serious about retooling our economy, then economic reconciliation must be front and center,' said Energy Minister Tim Hodgson in prepared remarks to the Toronto Regional Board of Trade.
