Carney's major projects bill passed. Now he says 'the real work begins'

Now that Bill C-5 is the law of the land, Prime Minister Mark Carney says "the real work begins" to fast-track major projects. Here's what comes next — and what experts say needs to happen.

Parliament passed the bill before it rose for the summer. The second half of the bill, the Building Canada Act, enables the federal cabinet to pick projects deemed to be in the national interest, approve them upfront and override federal laws, environmental reviews and the permitting process.

Those provisions around major projects face pushback from critics, who warn the bill weakens environmental protections, constitutional rights and democracy itself. 

The government hasn't yet announced which projects will be fast-tracked. Sources tell CBC News that ministers are meeting throughout the summer behind closed doors to implement Carney's vision.

It will be hearing from "provinces, territories and Indigenous proponents over the summer to solicit projects that meet the criteria of the act," Crown and Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty said in the Senate before the bill was passed.

Carney has framed C-5 as essential to combat the urgent economic threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump to Canada's steel, auto and natural resources sectors. 

"We are in a crisis," Carney said after the bill cleared the House of Commons with help from the Conservatives. "If you don't think we're in a crisis, go to Sault Ste. Marie. Go to Hamilton. Go to Windsor. Go to any lumber or forestry project. There's more coming."

But depending on who you ask, the urgency to get building has existed long before Trump. They say Carney and his cabinet would do well to keep up the momentum for years to come.

"There are a number of failed projects around the country," said Jay Khosla, who has served as senior assistant deputy minister at Natural Resources Canada and the Privy Council Office. 

Khosla is now executive director of economic and energy policy at the Public Policy Forum. The think-tank produced a roadmap named Build Big Things, which lays out in stark terms that Canada has fallen behind its peers in GDP per capita growth.

"A major cause of this lagging growth is Canada's bloated regulatory burden," the report notes. "Canada has been mostly content to muddle along in the slow lane."

Khosla rattled off numerous construction projects that have been envisioned but not yet proceeded, such as critical mineral mines in Ontario's Ring of Fire, oil and gas production off the coast of Newfoundland and transmission lines that could bring renewable power across the country. 

If Carney is serious about following through with this election promise to "build, baby, build," Khosla said cabinet should promptly release its list of projects and dismantle the hurdles proponents face.

He says the prime minister and the country's top civil servants will need to closely watch for fail points in the system, once those projects are named.