The Impact Assessment Act obstructed Canada from becoming “independent and strong” in the resources sector, said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in an interview following the Supreme Court’s ruling that declared the law unconstitutional.
“The anti-energy, anti-resource law has prevented us from building pipelines, natural gas liquefaction facilities, developing mines, and harvesting other resources that would allow us to become independent and strong,” he told NTD, a sister media of The Epoch Times.
On Oct. 13, the Supreme Court
declared the Liberal government’s environmental legislation, formerly known as
Bill C-69, “largely unconstitutional.” This 2019 law grants the federal government the authority to enforce additional environmental assessments on resource and infrastructure projects. Provinces opposing the legislation said that it encroaches upon their jurisdiction and hinders investments due to the added regulatory burdens and associated costs.
Following the ruling, Mr. Poilievre stated his intention to repeal the law, asserting that it has hindered Canada’s resource potential and therefore amplified its reliance on authoritarian exporters.
The Alberta government had earlier challenged the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act. Former Alberta premier Jason Kenny had described the legislation as the “No More Pipelines Act” due to the regulatory burdens it imposed that hinder the construction of additional pipelines.
In announcing her government’s reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith
said on Oct. 13 that the legislation “is an existential threat” to her province’s economy.
Housing
Mr. Poilievre also criticized the Liberal government’s
housing policies, highlighting that housing costs including rent, mortgage payments, and down payments have all doubled during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s eight years in office.
The Tory leader reiterated his strategies for tackling the housing crisis, emphasizing the importance of balancing the government budget to reduce interest rates. He highlighted his plan to provide
incentives to cities to free up land and speed up the issuing of building permits in order to build more homes faster.
Under his proposal, municipalities would be required to build 15 percent more homes per year or lose their infrastructure funding from the federal government. “If they beat the target, they'll get a building bonus,” he said.
In addition, Mr. Poilievre said he aims to sell federal buildings and land to provide space for building affordable housing options for Canadians.
“We’re going to boost building by reducing bureaucracy and taxes,” he said in the interview.
Housing affordability has emerged as a significant concern among Canadians, with a recent
Ipsos poll revealing that 66 percent of respondents have relinquished the hope of ever owning a home.
The B.C. government
has documented a substantial increase in homelessness, reporting that over 4,800 individuals in Greater Vancouver lost their homes in 2023, marking a 32 percent surge compared to 2020.
In September, the Liberals introduced the
Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, which imposes a seven-year moratorium on GST in an effort to address the mounting affordability concerns in Canada.
“By removing the GST from new apartment construction, we are going to create more units at prices Canadians can afford across Canada. This is going to get builders to build projects that otherwise weren’t going to go ahead,” Housing Minister Sean Fraser said in a
statement.
This legislation has sparked
mixed opinions. While some consider it relevant in the rental housing sector, especially in major markets like Toronto and Vancouver where chronic supply shortages persist, others say it will make little impact.
Parental Values
Mr. Poilievre also stated his position that it should be parents who decide what their children learn on gender and sexuality.
New Brunswick and
Saskatchewan have recently introduced new rules to mandate parental consent for students under the age of 16 who wish to change their given names and pronouns at school. In addition, there have been a number of recent
protests by parents demanding that parents have more rights when it comes to sexuality and gender topics in schools.
Mr. Poilievre said that “it should be parents and parents alone that pass values on to their kids about gender, sexuality, and everything else.”
He added that the government shouldn’t “override” parents on what children learn on these subjects.
“Our children are not the property of the government,” he said. “It is parents that should raise kids, and parents should have the final authority on the values that they teach their kids and on the names that they are given.”
Doug Lett and Noé Chartier contributed to this report.
