Author: Andrew Masucci The Government of Canada has released a list of proposals that it plans to implement into law and policy to make the process of getting major projects built in Canada more efficient. The thrust of the proposals is to streamline the regulatory process by making various permits less burdensome to obtain. While […]
News & Posts
Canada Proposes Using Regional Assessments to Skip Impact Assessments-- This Goes Against Meaningful Consultation and International Law
Author: Haidi Wu On May 08, 2026, the federal government posted the Getting Major Projects Built in Canada Discussion Paper on Proposed Legislative, Regulatory, and Policy Reforms. The Discussion Paper proposed several changes that would continue the fast-tracking and de-regulating agenda in Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act and Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by […]
Federal Economic Zones: A Vague Proposal with Serious Risks
Author: Elyssa Pullella In its recent Getting Major Projects Built discussion paper, the federal government proposes designating Federal Economic Zones across the country. These geographic areas would accelerate transportation, energy, telecommunications and industrial development by pre-approving certain projects and potentially bypassing existing legal requirements. Echoing concerns raised by Ontario’s Bill 5 and its “special economic […]
The Building Canada Act: A Legislative Framework for Undermining International Obligations
Authors: Jalissa Boucher & Joshua Cugini Over the last few decades, Canada has engaged with international partners to implement various obligations and treaty commitments aimed at environmental protection, including the Paris Agreement and the Agreement on EnvironmentalCooperation (which is part of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement or “CUSMA”). As a party to such legal instruments, Canada […]
Should Canadians be Worried about the Growing Power of the Executive Branch? The Recent Inclusion of Henry VIII Clauses in the “Nation-Building” Projects.
Authors: James, Skye & Ally New Provincial and Federal Legislation Is Aimed At “Nation-Building” The recent enactment of major project “fast-tracking” legislation by Canada and Ontario poses a threat to Indigenous sovereignty, environmental protection and constitutionally protected section 35 treaty rights by transferring power from provincial and federal legislatures to their Cabinets. Passed into law […]
Major Problem for Major Projects: Why the Ring of Fire Should Stay Off the Major Project Office’s List
Authors: Alexandra Rufo and Will Hanlon Prime Minister Mark Carney has presented his government’s agenda as directed by one central mandate: “build big, build bold, and build now”. To that end, Parliament enacted the Building Canada Act (BCA) last June and the federal government quickly established the Major Projects Office (MPO). The MPO is intended […]
Here to Stay: Aboriginal Title and Private Property Ownership
Authors: Henry Challen & Martin Whittaker Chief Sulsulxumaat, Cindy Daniels, of Cowichan Tribes. We are now seeing what happens when the constitutionally enshrined rights of Indigenous Peoples come face-to-face with what scholars have called the “sacred cow” of the Canadian political economy: colonially appropriated private property. According to historian Bryan Palmer, in Canada, colonialism and […]
Regulatory Retreat: How Bill C-15 Could Undermine Greenwashing Enforcement in Canada
Authors: Ava Torkaman & Annabelle MacRae Source Last November, Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1 (“Bill C-15”) was introduced to the House of Commons. The purpose of Bill C-15 is to implement certain provisions of Budget 2025: Canada Strong. The Bill is currently being studied by the Standing Committee on Finance. Most significantly for those […]
Decolonizing Taxation?
February 12th, 2025 Authors: Alexander Qanbery and Blaise Matlock Indigenous governments require resources to provide services to their communities. While, in Canada, some funding for services in Indigenous communities comes from federal and provincial governments, these transfers typically have strings attached: colonial ideas about how the funds can be spent and the year-to-year political whims […]
Building Momentum: First Nations Challenge Ontario’s Free Entry Mining System
January 28th, 2025 Authors: Gillian Chamberlain, Areej Safdar, Julia Singer, John-James Stranz, Kristen Theriault In a 2023 ruling, the Supreme Court of British Columbia found that the province has a duty to consult Indigenous peoples prior to registering mineral claims on their territories. Similarly, the Supreme Court of Quebec recently confirmed that the Quebec government […]
