These days it seems that U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs are responsible for pretty much all the problems facing Canada, at least according to the politicians. Some businesses are also blaming Trump’s actions for changes in their business plans. For instance, large auto maker Stellantis just announced this week that they will be delaying the production of the Dodge Charger electric vehicle (EV) because of threatened auto tariffs. Never mind that multiple auto companies, including Ford, GM and Honda, had delayed their EV production long before Trump was even in power. The reality is that the EV market is in big trouble, as are the multi-billion-dollar investments of our tax money that Canadian politicians chose to pour into this dicey proposition over the past few years. But Trump is a handy scapegoat for all of Canada’s challenges these days.
Some provinces have even been using the Trump phenomenon to justify laws which could permit dangerous abuses of their power. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has introduced Bill 5, a piece of legislation designed to run roughshod over virtually all other legislation on the books. The justification for this extreme Bill is of course that the Trump-induced crisis means extraordinary measures much be taken urgently to combat it.
Bill 5, called the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, effectively gives Ontario government ministers the power to exempt projects from provincial and local laws. Cabinet would have the ability to designate any area a “special economic zone” which would be exempted from provincial laws and regulations, including those at the municipal level. Although it is generally acknowledged that Ontario is overly burdened by regulations and red tape, which slow down large infrastructure and other projects, this Bill goes too far in enabling the provincial government to ignore legislation that was put in place for good reason and should be upheld, such as some environmental, health and safety and endangered species laws.
The Progressive Conservatives were justifiably critical of their Liberal predecessors when those governments forced municipalities to accept things such as large wind turbine farms against the wishes of local residents. Yet Bill 5 will effectively do the same thing by potentially overruling municipal concerns. Some type of reasonable middle ground must be found where sensible legislation stays in place and municipal governments are part of the decision-making process while excessive regulatory delays are streamlined or eliminated.
The B.C. government also recently introduced legislation in its Bill 15 that gave the provincial government override powers for major capital projects and Bill 14 which streamlines the permit process for renewable energy projects. The B.C. legislation also has the ability to overrule municipal regulation and by-laws, as well as permit provincial ministers to intervene in local government regulatory processes to address project delays.
There has been a great deal of justified criticism of both provinces from a wide range of groups for the introduction of these laws. In both B.C. and Ontario, it appears that these pieces of legislation were put together hastily under the guise of responding to Trump’s policies without proper consideration of all of the downsides and potential negative impacts. In both provinces they represent government overreach and should be significantly amended with better checks and balances before being finalized.
After a decade of excessive build-up of onerous regulations and red tape under all governments at the federal, provincial and municipal levels, this recent enthusiasm to streamline permits and approvals of important infrastructure and natural resource projects is welcome and overdue. However, the legislation that has been introduced in Ontario and B.C. swings the pendulum too much in the opposite direction. Despite their being some urgency in addressing Trump’s tariffs on Canada, it is still worth governments taking the time to get these policies right from the start instead of having to clean up their negative impacts in future.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
