Senate Urged to Fix Bill C-5 to Protect Democracy and the Environment

Press Release

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, WEST COAST ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN PARKS AND WILDERNESS SOCIETY, DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION, NATURE CANADA, ECOJUSTICE, ECOLOGY ACTION CENTRE, WWF-CANADA, SIERRA CLUB CANADA FOUNDATION

Leading Environmental and Legal Experts Call for Critical Amendments to Protect Democracy and the Environment and be consistent with the Canadian Constitution, Urge Further Senate Review

June 24, 2025 — Ottawa, ON – (Unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People). Canada’s leading environmental law and policy organizations are calling on the Senate to make essential amendments to Bill C-5 before it becomes law. As currently drafted, the bill threatens to undermine constitutional principles, erode democratic accountability, and jeopardize environmental protection and Indigenous rights — not to mention thwart the government’s stated goal of expediting “national interest” projects.

While House of Commons amendments passed late last week have improved transparency and enabled Parliamentary scrutiny over sweeping regulatory powers that include Cabinet exercise of Henry VIII clauses, they fall far short of what is needed. The Senate now bears the critical responsibility of ensuring this bill is not passed in a form that risks being unconstitutional and fundamentally incompatible with Canadian democratic norms.

“We support responsible national interest projects,” said Theresa McClenaghan, Executive Director and Counsel, Canadian Environmental Law Association. “But those projects must be carried out under a legal framework that is environmentally sound, democratically legitimate, and constitutionally robust. Bill C-5, as currently written, fails on all three counts. The Senate needs to properly study this bill and perform their function as the chamber of “sober second thought.” Otherwise, Bill C-5 will mean that projects face more opposition and legal challenges, rather than finding an expedited route to approval.”

Priority Amendments Needed to Fix Bill C-5:

1. Eliminate or Restrict Henry VIII Clauses (Sections 21–23)
   Bill C-5 would grant Cabinet sweeping powers to override existing environmental laws — including the Fisheries Act and Species at Risk Act — through regulation. These “Henry VIII” clauses are not only dangerously broad, but they also raise significant constitutional red flags. The Supreme Court of Canada has only upheld such clauses when confined to amending the same statute, and Bill C-5 goes far beyond that, opening the door to executive overreach and diminishing parliamentary sovereignty while introducing legal risk. These clauses are unnecessary – Parliament can pass project-specific legislation, as it has with projects like the Gordie Howe bridge and the Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline. Bill C-5 must be amended to curtail these risky and constitutionally questionable powers.
2. Address De Facto Henry VIII Powers in Section 7(3)
   Section 7(3) represents an even more troubling affront to constitutional norms. By “deeming” other legislative requirements to have been met without actually meeting them, it gives a single minister unchecked discretion to bypass environmental protections, Indigenous consultation requirements, and regulatory due process. This contradicts the federal Department of Justice’s own legal drafting guidelines and invites legal uncertainty. A clear amendment is needed to ensure the minister must comply with all applicable laws when issuing authorizations.
3. Ensure Transparency and Democratic Accountability
   Recent amendments have introduced inconsistencies in how public information and consultation requirements are handled. To align the bill with both transparency and participatory democracy:

• Sections 5(8) and 7(7), which exclude key decisions from the Statutory Instruments Act, should be deleted. The Statutory Instruments Act allows for public comments on key regulatory initiatives. Some sections of the bill, like 5(1.1), require comment periods. The provisions excluding decisions from the Statutory Instruments Act create uncertainty about what decisions the public can weigh in on, and when, and should be deleted.
• Section 7(2.1) should be amended to ensure meaningful public participation in addition to Indigenous engagement.

These changes are essential to ensure a consistent and predictable  consultation regime and ensure that communities affected by “national interest” projects have a real voice.

4. Fix Internal Inconsistencies in Environmental Outcome Reporting
   Section 5.1(2)(b) of the Bill inexplicably omits one of the five core environmental outcome criteria outlined in 5(6), creating an internal inconsistency that could undermine enforcement and compliance. This must be corrected to ensure all relevant environmental factors are considered in project assessments.

“In its rush to pass Bill C-5 by July 1st, the House of Commons has left serious constitutional, legal, and democratic flaws on the table,” said Anna Johnson, Staff Lawyer, West Coast Environmental Law. “It is now up to the Senate to do what the House did not — protect the public interest by ensuring that national interest projects proceed under strong, lawful oversight.”

The proposed amendments are not about delay — they are about integrity. Without them, Bill C-5 risks becoming a legal and political liability for the government, one that could trigger years of litigation, public backlash, and environmental harm, as well as slowing and delaying important nation-building projects.

Signatories:

Tim Gray, Executive Director, Environmental Defence

Jessica Clogg, Executive Director & Senior Counsel, West Coast Environmental Law Association

Theresa McClenagan, Executive Director and Counsel, Canadian Environmental Law Association

Sandra Schwartz, Executive Director, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society

Linda Nowlan, Acting Executive Director, David Suzuki Foundation

Emily McMillan, Executive Director, Nature Canada

Charlie Hatt, Climate Director, Ecojustice

Maggy Burns, Executive Director, Ecology Action Centre

Megan Leslie, President & CEO, WWF-Canada

Gretchen Fitzgerald, Executive Director, Sierra Club Canada Foundation

For further information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Anna Johnson, Counsel, West Coast Environmental Law Association ajohnston@wcel.org

Venetia Jones, Associate Director of Strategic Communications, Ecojustice vjones@ecojustice.ca

Midhat Moini, Communications Manager, Environmental Defence media@environmentaldefence.ca

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