Cabinet won’t be boxed in by hard definitions under Bill C-5, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Tuesday, as senators pressed him on whether premiers could block fast-tracked industrial projects.In a lighthearted deflection, LeBlanc replied to one veto question by saying, “Vito’s is also a restaurant on Mountain Road in Moncton.”Blacklock's Reporter says Bill C-5, formally titled An Act to Enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act, would give cabinet sweeping powers to designate projects it deems in the “national interest” for expedited approval. The bill allows cabinet to “consider any factor,” according to Section 5.6.LeBlanc told senators there was strong interest from provincial premiers in getting projects moving quickly, but declined to specify what types of initiatives would qualify. “There is a great, great deal of enthusiasm from all first ministers,” he said, without offering examples.Opposition Senator Leo Housakos warned the legislation handed cabinet too much discretion. “This bill gives unprecedented power to a single minister,” he said. “If the minister refuses to give that designation, perhaps for ideological reasons, the project defaults to that old, slow regime the government admits is not working.”LeBlanc insisted the government was looking for “consensus” and said nothing would be imposed on provinces. But he acknowledged the legislation was hard to pin down.“It is very difficult to define in specific terms,” he said. “Everyone has their own theory.”Sen. Pamela Wallin raised concerns about the absence of a clear standard. “We actually don’t have a definition from you of what is in the national interest,” she said. Asked whether provinces could veto projects, LeBlanc replied, “Veto is the aggressive word you can use.”He maintained that premiers were collaborating, not resisting. “If you have 13 premiers coming to us with lists of dozens and dozens of projects and they are meeting together, with each other, to come up with ideas of how they can collaborate, it doesn’t feel to me like that hypothetical question is one that we are about to cross in the short term.”
