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Poilievre rips Carney’s omnibus bill as Conservatives agonize over how to vote on it
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OTTAWA — Two days after the legislation was tabled, federal Conservatives were still agonizing about their position on the Carney government’s omnibus bill that would speed up major projects but that critics say would undermine the right to strike.
While at least two Tory MPs from Quebec openly agreed with the idea of moving faster on big projects, labour critic Kyle Seeback said his party, which has been heavily courting unions, is sensitive to the labour movement’s criticism of the legislation.
On Wednesday morning, Gérard Deltell, who is the party’s critic for One Canadian Economy, raised eyebrows when he hinted that Conservatives agreed with the bill.
“We have to be careful before saying yes, no, maybe, we don’t know…”
“It’s true that, on the principle, we agree,” he continued.
“What we know is that this bill attempts to erase the Liberal government’s ten years of inaction,” he said as he entered a caucus meeting. “That is the legacy of Justin Trudeau and of three-quarters of the people sitting across from us (in the House of Commons.)”
Poilievre’s office afterwards contacted National Post to stress that Deltell was not, in fact, endorsing the Building Canada Strong Act.
In a statement received late Wednesday afternoon, Deltell said that he was supporting “the principle of reversing the anti-development policies of the last Liberal decade.”
“For us, the best way to grow our economy is for the government to get out of the way.”
His colleague Gabriel Hardy, another Conservative MP from Quebec, said he agreed with the idea that Canada needs to move faster to approve projects.
“We certainly need to take action as an economy. We must diversify and ensure that our major projects come to fruition. That is a very conservative position,” he said.
Hardy he also said, like Deltell, that the party needs to take the time to flesh out this “enormous” piece of legislation before coming to a clear position on the bill.
“But we can’t move forward with our eyes closed and without paying attention to the details. And that is precisely the danger of moving too fast. So, we’re going to take the time to analyze it thoroughly,” he added during a scrum with reporters in French.
Seeback was just as enigmatic when asked if there were enough red lines for the Conservative Party to oppose the bill based on the criticism of the labour movement. He simply said that Canadians will have “to wait and see.”
The Building Canada Strong Act, or Bill C-39, tabled on Monday proposes sweeping changes to fast-track approvals for major projects across the country and curtail labour disruptions in federally regulated workplaces citing the “national interest.”
The bill has been criticized by climate activists who say it guts environmental protections, and the labour movement who say it restricts their right to strike. The government has denied that the legislation does either of these things.
“When we look at the legislation that we just tabled, it’s about being able to build projects that are really important for our country,” said Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, who noted that it includes a lot of clean energy projects.
“None of them reduces the environmental reviews that we had previously, but they do make the process more simplified in a way, I would say. That doesn’t skip the steps.”
Conservatives were conspicuously tight-lipped about the legislation after the tabling of the legislation. In the last two days, they did not ask any questions about it in question period, instead focusing on cost-of-living or crime issues affecting their constituents.
It was only on Wednesday afternoon, when the debate in second reading started on Bill C-39 in the House of Commons, that Poilievre said it’s “deja vu all over again.”
“A year and a half ago, the prime minister came storming into the Commons with a cape on his back, saying that he had a new bill, Bill C-5, that was going to bring in sweeping legislative changes to build at speeds not seen in generations,” he said.
“Today they’ve come in and they’ve announced another sweeping bill, which the media has regurgitated, unfiltered, as though it were gospel truth, and this time they’re repeating exactly the same promises.”
Poilievre said the legislation is “all talk, no results.”
“Gushing media headlines aside, there has been nothing in 18 months. The previous bill was called the Building Canada Act. It built nothing. Today we have a bill. It’s called the Building Canada Strong Act. So, in 18 months, they’ve managed to add one word.”
The sponsor of the bill, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon, described Poilievre’s speech as “yet another very Justin Trudeau-obsessed piece of rhetorical flourish.”
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said she took the time to read through the entire text of the legislation before commenting it. She shared her views on Wednesday.
“It is a monster — in every sense of the word,” she said. “I can’t say that I’ve completely absorbed it yet, mostly due to sloppy drafting and the weirdness of the whole thing.”
National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com
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