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Some of Canada's top scientists push for changes to Carney's new major projects bill
Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-10-22 08:00:00.0
Tags: [National, British Columbia, Environment, Infrastructure, Energy, Governance]More than 50 fellows of the Royal Society of Canada published an open letter urging Parliament to make six significant amendments to Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act. The 243-page bill aims to fast-track major energy and infrastructure projects by establishing a one-year review deadline and pre-approved regions of national interest, while amending over a dozen federal laws including those protecting species at risk, fisheries, and water quality. Scientists, including representatives from the University of British Columbia and Queen's University, warn that eliminating the five-year sunset clause from the original Building Canada Act (Bill C-5) and weakening environmental oversight could drive irreversible harm and species extinction, such as the endangered southern resident orca population. Federal ministers, including Dominic LeBlanc, defended the legislation before a special legislative committee, arguing that clearer timelines and robust oversight can coexist.
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Liberal MP calls for more safeguards in new bill to fast-track development projects
Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-10-07 22:35:17.0
Tags: [National, British Columbia, Infrastructure, Energy, Environment, Governance]Liberal MP Patrick Weiler publicly raised concerns in the House of Commons regarding Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, which grants the Carney government sweeping powers to fast-track major infrastructure projects like pipelines, mines, and ports within one year. Weiler flagged shortcomings including excessive ministerial discretion to exempt projects from environmental regulations, compressed timelines limiting Indigenous and public input, and provisions allowing preliminary construction before environmental assessments are complete. The legislation, overseen by Transport Minister and House Leader Steven MacKinnon, is being studied in the House of Commons via a rare legislative committee structure covering its more than 200 clauses. Environmental groups and labour unions have also pushed back against the bill, warning it threatens environmental protections, at-risk species like caribou, and labour standards.
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Indigenous, local leaders optimistic about new pipeline despite “host of issues” Carney says Federal government is yet to address
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-10-05 16:03:04.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Energy, Infrastructure, Environment, Indigenous]Prime Minister Mark Carney, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, and Pembina Pipeline Corp. CEO Scott Burrows announced that the Pacific Link Pipeline (formerly West Coast Oil Pipeline) has been officially listed as a project of national interest under the Building Canada Act. The project aims to export an additional one million barrels of Albertan oil per day to Asian markets, generate over $20 billion annually in GDP, create 140,000 jobs, and provide a 10 per cent ownership stake to Indigenous communities in British Columbia and Alberta through an accelerated single federal regulatory review process. However, the initiative faces ongoing concerns from local Indigenous groups—including Fort McKay First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation, and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation—regarding unresolved legacy issues, carbon capture and storage technologies like the Pathways Project, mine water release, and effluents regulations tied to a trilateral memorandum of understanding aiming to double regional oil production to eight million barrels per day within a decade.
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Separatist, environment, and some First Nation groups speak out against new Alberta-B.C. pipeline
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-10-02 20:03:56.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Infrastructure, Energy, Environment, Indigenous]Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that the Pacific Link pipeline, proposed by Pembina Pipeline Corporation, has been designated a project of national interest, allowing it to be fast-tracked through Ottawa's major projects office with construction potentially starting in September. The pipeline faces strong opposition from Alberta separatists like Let Alberta Decide over public financing and timing, B.C. and Alberta First Nations including Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and the Union of B.C. Indigenous Chiefs over lack of consultation and environmental impacts, and environmental groups like the Pembina Institute and Ecojustice over increased greenhouse gas emissions and risks to the Salish Sea.
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Ottawa faces deadline on whether to fast-track new West Coast pipeline
Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-10-01 11:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Energy, Infrastructure, Environment]The federal government and the Alberta government face an October 1 deadline to decide whether to designate a new 1,250-kilometre bitumen pipeline project under Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act, to fast-track its approval. The multi-billion dollar project, estimated to cost between $35.2 billion and $43.7 billion, would run from Bruderheim, Alberta, to the Roberts Bank terminal in Delta, British Columbia, carrying more than one million barrels of bitumen per day. The Alberta government and the federally owned Trans Mountain Corporation would each hold a 45 per cent ownership stake, while the Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corporation would hold a 10 per cent stake. The project is conditional on the construction of the Pathways carbon storage network and faces opposition and potential hurdles from First Nations groups and environmental organizations over Indigenous consultation and environmental impacts.
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Building wildfire resilience throughout B.C.
Source: British Columbia - Government News
Date: 2026-09-13 20:00:00.0
Tags: [British Columbia, Emergency, Climate, Environment, Infrastructure, Indigenous]The Government of British Columbia announced an investment of $15 million under Budget 2026 for the 2027 FireSmart Community Funding and Supports (FCFS) program, with applications opening October 1, 2026. Delivered in partnership with the Union of B.C. Municipalities and the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society, the program funds local wildfire-risk-reduction projects, education, home assessments, and mitigation planning. Since 2018, approximately $190 million has been invested through the initiative, supporting more than 300 communities, including 158 First Nations and 155 local governments.
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Powering Metro Vancouver’s first net-zero-emission school
Source: British Columbia - Government News
Date: 2026-09-11 18:30:00.0
Tags: [British Columbia, Education, Energy, Environment, Climate, Infrastructure]The Government of British Columbia and BC Hydro announced that École Snokomish Elementary in Surrey has opened as Metro Vancouver's first all-electric, net-zero-emission school and latest Power Smart Champion. Supported by CleanBC funding and more than $14,000 for an initial energy study, the 27-classroom, 655-student school utilizes a heat-pump-based HVAC system designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 89% and avoid an estimated 961 tonnes of emissions over 15 years. The project directly advances Surrey Schools' target to lower emissions by 40% by 2030 and aligns with BC Hydro's Power Smart 2.0 plan to drive public building energy efficiency.
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As Carney advances Vancouver port expansion, environmentalists raise concern for at-risk species
Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-09-05 08:00:00.0
Tags: [National, British Columbia, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment, Climate]The federal government has issued a mandatory notice under the Building Canada Act to designate the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 port expansion project in Vancouver as a project of national interest, initiating a 30-day consultation period. Led by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the $10 billion three-berth container terminal expansion—backed by a federal-provincial funding agreement—aims to increase port capacity by nearly 50 per cent and generate $100 billion in annual trade capacity. Environmental groups, including Environmental Defence, and biological scientists have raised concerns that national-interest status could fast-track approvals and give Prime Minister Mark Carney's cabinet discretionary power to bypass environmental safeguards under the Species at Risk Act, potentially threatening endangered southern resident killer whales and chinook salmon habitats within the Fraser River Estuary.
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