The federal government will not disclose details of major industrial projects selected for fast-track approval under new legislation until agreements are finalized, Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said.“I never did a deal with the press,” said Hodgson, a former Goldman Sachs Canada CEO, during a media scrum. “Those conversations are going on. They are going to happen in private. When there’s a transaction, we’ll let everybody know.”.His comments follow Parliament’s June 26 passage of Bill C-5, An Act To Enact The Free Trade And Labour Mobility In Canada Act. The law gives cabinet broad authority to approve projects deemed “in the national interest,” with Section 5.6 allowing ministers to consider any factor they choose.Hodgson said no projects have been selected yet but promised swift action. “We are going to focus on projects of national interest right away,” he said. “What the Act does is allow us to move quickly.”.He pushed back against concerns about the pace, citing economic urgency. “Ask the farmers who can’t sell their canola. Ask the fishers who can’t sell their catches. Ask the autoworkers who don’t have jobs anymore. Ask the steel plant workers who are seeing their plants shut down,” said Hodgson. “We need to move quickly.”The legislation centralizes approvals under a single framework, streamlining what Hodgson called a fragmented process. “It allows us to do all the things we need to do in one centralized place under one set of timelines,” he said.Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc previously told senators that the scope of Bill C-5 would be determined by cabinet once enacted. “It is very difficult to define in specific terms,” he said.
