With C-5 now law, it's 'put up or shut up time' for Carney Liberals: observers

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OTTAWA — With Prime Minister Mark Carney’s keystone nation-building legislation now law, it’s time for the government to follow through on its promises.

“This is a ‘come to Jesus’ moment,” Senator Leo Housakos told the Toronto Sun on Friday.

“This is where they have to recognize that not everything they did in the last 10 years worked out as they thought it would, and now we need to make changes that reinforce economic development, economic growth and attracts foreign investment.”

Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy act, enjoyed rare support from the Conservatives, who fended off opposition from the NDP and Bloc Québécois — and even members of the Liberal caucus — to usher the bill through whirlwind consideration in both the House of Commons and the Senate to meet Carney’s July 1 deadline.

C-5 is meant to grant cabinet mechanisms allowing for fast approvals for major nation-building projects such as pipelines, ports, mines and energy ventures, and lift barriers to interprovincial trade.

Housakos, opposition leader in the Senate, said it’s now up to Carney to put the law into action and start rebuilding Canada’s stalled economy.

“The Prime Minister has created high expectations coming out of an election where clearly, regardless if Canadians voted for Mark Carney or Pierre Poilievre, there was a clear embracing of the recognition that in the last 10 years, the environmental enthusiasm displayed by the previous government went a little bit too far,” he said.

“It created too much red tape, created too many obstacles for unleashing our energy sector and creating the wealth our country so badly requires — particularly in the face of this existential crisis of tariffs and Trump threats that we’ve been getting now over the last few months.”

Alex Brown, a director with the National Citizens Coalition, agreed with Housakos’ sentiment that Carney and his government need to put their money where their mouth is.

“It’s put up or shut up time,” Brown said. “We view this with optimism but healthy skepticism, because the (government’s) record speaks for itself in cabinet and (Carney’s) past work as the sort-of ‘final boss’ of global net-zero.”

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Canadians have kept a wary eye on the PMO since Carney came to power, he said, adding they are beyond hollow catchphrases like “elbows up” and are putting their faith in the PM’s tent-pole policies like breaking down interprovincial trade barriers.

“Nobody can sabotage Canada quite like Canada,” Brown said. “This is a real chance to take down a whole bunch of red tape, but if those first tentpoles have already appeared to collapse — folks are going to want to see some real movement this summer, and thinking ahead to when the house returns this September.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume