{"id":18789,"date":"2025-06-06T20:27:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T00:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenparty.ca\/?post_type=article&p=18789"},"modified":"2025-08-05T18:06:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T22:06:26","slug":"new-national-interest-bill-hands-cabinet-sweeping-powers-to-fast-track-projects-sideline-indigenous-rights-and-environmental-protections-greens-warn","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.greenparty.ca\/en\/news\/new-national-interest-bill-hands-cabinet-sweeping-powers-to-fast-track-projects-sideline-indigenous-rights-and-environmental-protections-greens-warn","title":{"rendered":"New \u201cNational Interest\u201d Bill Hands Cabinet Sweeping Powers to Fast-Track Projects, Sideline Indigenous Rights and Environmental Protections, Greens Warn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

OTTAWA<\/strong> \u2014 A new federal bill billed as a fix for environmental assessment is in fact a blank cheque for Cabinet to push through projects without proper oversight, the Green Party of Canada warns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not environmental assessment \u2014 it\u2019s a political playbook,\u201d said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands. \u201cBill C-5 gives the federal Cabinet sweeping discretion to fast-track projects while weakening Indigenous rights and environmental protections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the proposed law, Cabinet alone will decide which projects are deemed \u201cin the national interest.\u201d The law would give ministers the power to bypass key planning requirements and timelines \u2014 and rewrite rules for individual projects at any time. Safeguards for nature, sustainability and biodiversity are conspicuously missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the first time in 40 years that Canadian environmental assessment law has been written to serve political deals first and environmental responsibility second,\u201d said May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill also sidelines Indigenous rights. Even where Indigenous communities\u2019 constitutionally protected rights may be harmed, the bill requires only that they \u201cmust be consulted\u201d \u2014 while giving full veto power to the Canadian Energy Regulator over pipeline approvals. \u201cThat is an appalling double standard,\u201d said May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other concerns include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n