Ottawa hasn’t defined ‘national interest’ under major projects law

By Nick Murray The federal government still has not issued specific criteria to define the “national interest” under its new major projects law, despite calls from MPs to do so. The Building Canada Act allows the government to identify projects in the “national interest” for faster approval processes, which could include exemptions from certain environmental laws. As the government rushed the bill through the House of Commons in June, MPs studying it at the committee stage amended it to suggest that the government offer its criteria for determining which projects are in the national interest, and to require it to issue a timeline for when that might happen. The amendment was moved by the Conservatives and narrowly passed on a 5-4 vote, with the Liberals opposing it. In response, Privy…

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