Pipeline debate pits B.C. against other provinces
Vancouver Watch
The pipeline debate is heating up again, pitting B.C. against other provinces – and newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney.
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CTV News
21 minutes ago
- CTV News
Ontario to make Ring of Fire a special economic zone ‘as quickly as possible': Ford
Protesters chant and wave flags during a demonstration outside the Ontario Legislature at Queen's Park in Toronto, Monday, June 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston TORONTO — Ontario intends to designate the mineral-rich Ring of Fire as a so-called special economic zone 'as quickly as possible,' Premier Doug Ford said Thursday. Ford said he and several ministers will consult all summer with First Nations about the new law that allows the Ontario government to suspend provincial and municipal rules before making the designation. 'We need to start moving on that,' Ford said of the designation for the Ring of Fire. Last week, Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford and Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce said they would hold off on making the area a special economic zone until they had consulted with all affect First Nations. The law seeks to speed up the building of large projects, particularly mines. Ford's government has committed $1 billion to develop the Ring of Fire. Three First Nations have signed various agreements with the province to help build roads to the region, as well as develop the area where it connects to the provincial highway system. However, First Nations across Ontario have risen up to protest the province's new law, livid about what what they describe as the government's audacity to strip away any law it sees fit for any project at any time. They say it tramples their treaty rights and ignores their concerns. The First Nations want to be part of development, including mines, but want to be equal partners with the province on the legislative side. They have warned Ford repeatedly that they will take the fight to the courts and to the land. Blockades of highways, railways and mines are on the table this summer, numerous First Nations said. 'This is a once in a generation opportunity for our First Nations communities and I understand some may disagree, but I'll tell you, a lot of them agree,' Ford said. Tensions have been high at the provincial legislature over the past few weeks because of the opposition to the bill. Dozens of First Nations members flew from the far north to Queen's Park to watch the province pass Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, on Wednesday. Security booted about a dozen of them from the legislature's chambers for raining jeers down upon the politicians as they passed the bill into law. NDP legislator Sol Mamakwa, the representative for Kiiwetinoong where the Ring of Fire is located, was also kicked out earlier this week for saying Ford was 'telling untruths' to First Nations about his government's plans for the Ring of Fire. There is plenty of opposition to the new law in addition to First Nations' concerns. Critics also say the bill guts protections for endangered and threatened species. The legislature rose for its annual summer break and will not return until Oct. 20. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
Ottawa Citizen
23 minutes ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Liberals to remove federal trade barriers, fast-track major projects in new bill
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney's government plans to remove federal trade barriers by recognizing the rules provinces have in place, the National Post has learned. Article content The measures are set to be introduced in a 'One Canadian Economy' bill aimed at knocking down federal trade barriers and fast-tracking the approvals process for major energy and infrastructure projects to be introduced Friday. Article content Article content Article content The full title of the bill is 'An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act.' Article content Article content The proposed legislation takes aim at the overlap that exists between rules at the provincial and federal levels of government, including when it comes to workers. Article content The federal government is hoping the legislation will receive unanimous support from all parties to fast-track its adoption, but at least one opposition party has said that will not happen. Article content Bloc Québécois House leader Christine Normandin said on Wednesday her party will want to study the bill in great detail and hear from experts in parliamentary committees, which are not yet up and running. Article content 'For the interest of the population that we represent, we're going to do the work,' she said. Article content Carney is expected to hold a media availability to answer questions about the legislation around 12:30. Article content Article content Besides addressing trade barriers, the bill will usher in a new process to fast-track approvals for major projects by creating a new federal major projects office. Article content By creating the new office, the government promises to streamline the regulatory process and cut the approval timeline from five to two years. Article content Carney and the premiers met earlier this week and agreed on the criteria for what constitutes a project to be in the 'national interest,' which would allow it to be fast-tracked. Article content Requirements include Indigenous participation, the potential for clean growth, and a high likelihood of success. Article content The federal government has promised that the proposed bill to fast-track resource project approvals would follow the constitutional duty to consult First Nations.
CTV News
41 minutes ago
- CTV News
Canada's sweeping border bill ‘an attack' on asylum seekers' rights, says human rights group
While the Canadian government says its proposed Bill C-2 will improve the immigration and asylum system, a human rights group is calling some of the measures 'an attack' on refugees' right to seek asylum. Amnesty International Canada said in a press release Thursday that the bill, if passed, would make it 'virtually impossible' for the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to review refugee claims from most people entering Canada via the United States. Moreover, Amnesty International Canada says the bill would prevent people who have been in Canada for more than a year from seeking refugee status. People facing harm, including persecution and torture, in their countries could be 'unfairly denied' refugee protection by Canada, it added. Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada's English-speaking section, said seeking asylum is a human right. 'With Bill C-2, the Canadian government threatens to chip away at that right, making it harder for people seeking safety and freedom to file an asylum claim and have it assessed fairly,' Nivyabandi said in a statement Thursday. 'This attack on the right to seek asylum will severely diminish Canada's international standing when it comes to protecting human rights.' Referring to the measures affecting immigrants and asylum seekers, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in a press release Tuesday that Bill C-2, or the Strong Borders Act, would address what it called growing migration pressures by making the immigration and asylum systems stronger, efficient and more flexible. A separate news release Tuesday from Public Safety Canada said the changes will improve the 'integrity and fairness of our immigration system while protecting Canadians' privacy and Charter rights.' The federal government says it will also work with American border and law enforcement agencies to strengthen the border and combat organized crime. While the bill is 'less explicit' than the Trump administration's rhetoric in linking immigration and asylum seekers to crime and drug trafficking, human rights lawyer Julia Sande said the proposed measures are 'concerning.' 'We don't agree that it makes the system more efficient, and we're also concerned about the linking of asylum seekers ... to things like fentanyl and guns at the border, like asylum seekers have nothing to do with border safety,' Sande, a human rights law and policy campaigner with Amnesty International Canada in Toronto, said in a video interview with on Thursday. 'These are people who are fleeing persecution, torture, discrimination, violence, who are looking to Canada for safety and Canada is trying to slam the door on them, and so we're really concerned about this bill.' In response to concerns from critics and advocacy groups about some of the rules, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said the border bill has safeguards upholding civil rights and due process, The Canadian Press reported Wednesday. Affected asylum seekers would still have a chance to make their case through pre-removal risk assessments, she added. This safeguard would apply to those whose asylum claims are not referred to the IRB under the new rules, according to the IRCC. The process would still consider each individual's situation and may result in granting claimants refugee protection, the IRCC said in an email to on Thursday. The IRCC said the proposed measure builds upon recent changes made to 'deter irregular migration and strengthen border management.' Canada and the U.S. expanded the Safe Third Country Agreement in 2023, but the proposed rule won't affect the agreement, it added. But the pre-removal risk assessment would deny people seeking asylum a right to a hearing by the Immigration and Refugee Board, which assesses and makes decisions on asylum claims, and force them into a separate system where they are not guaranteed a hearing, Sande said. 'When you get a pre-removal risk assessment, you can't appeal the decision,' Sande said, adding that a federal court must judicially review the case instead, but there's already a lot of court delays and backlogs. Proposed measures 'a step backwards' Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration at Toronto Metropolitan University, says the bill's proposed asylum measures would be 'a step backwards.' She's concerned about a proposed ineligibility rule affecting people who first landed in Canada after June 24, 2020. If these people make asylum claims more than one year since their arrival, their claims would not be referred to the IRB, according to a background document from the federal government. Triandafyllidou said the one-year cutoff date is 'totally arbitrary' and may be against international law. 'So by creating this one-year rule, we throw out the window all these people that might face persecution,' she said in a video interview with on Thursday. She gave an example of someone who comes from a country where identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning is illegal. If that individual later identifies as 2SLGBTQ+ and decides to file for asylum more than a year after landing in Canada, the person's claim wouldn't be heard by the refugee board under the proposed rule. Asylum claimants who enter Canada from the United States along the land border and make a claim after 14 days would not be referred to the IRB as well, according to the government's background document. 'This new ineligibility provision will protect Canada's asylum system against sudden increases in claims and deter people from using the asylum system to bypass regular immigration rules, including the (Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement),' according to the IRCC in an email to on Thursday. Canada's current asylum system already has 'good rules' that just need to be stronger and implemented more effectively, Triandafyllidou added. 'There is a concern of citizens and of the government that we have a big backlog of asylum applications and that our system needs to become more efficient and effective, but this will happen by strengthening our current system which is a good one,' she said. 'So instead of undoing our system to do away with the backlog, we need to provide more resources instead of border agents, more resources for our refugee board, so that they can truly distinguish the people who really need protection from the people who are abusing the system.' With files from The Canadian Press
