Carney promises sweeping economic legislation, fast pace this fall during caucus meeting

Prime Minister Mark Carney promised sweeping new economic legislation and a punishing pace this fall as his caucus met in Ottawa ahead of Parliament’s return on Monday.

Mr. Carney said the economic bill is a follow-through on the momentum of the past seven days: a meeting with Ukraine’s President, a landmark investment summit and a whirlwind trip to Europe to forge a new relationship with that continent.

“It’s a lot, but that was just the warm-up,” he told his MPs in a speech at the start of their caucus meeting Friday. His benches now have three new members after the Liberals won several by-elections in August.

Mr. Carney said the legislation – which he called the Building Canada Strong Act – is the next phase of his government’s promise to speed up infrastructure and other projects.

The first was the Building Canada Act, which set up the Major Projects Office to shepherd along projects deemed as potentially in the national interest.

“Canada will always be a country of high standards, but high standards do not mean decisions have to be slow,” Mr. Carney said.

Ahead of the meeting, Government House Leader Steve MacKinnon told reporters the bill will include changes to the Canada Labour Code, measures to improve supply chains, and the next steps in the government’s promise to reduce regulatory reviews for all projects to one year.

Elements of how the existing Impact Assessment Act is applied were already changed through regulation earlier this month, and on the same day the government released a report on consultations toward broader legislative reform.

The IAA was created through a law passed in 2019 by the Liberal government called Bill C-69, which has faced heavy criticism from Canada’s energy sector, the Alberta government and the Conservative Party because they say it has hindered new oil and gas development and hurt economic growth.

Karina Gould, an Ontario Liberal MP who ran for leadership of the party against Mr. Carney last year, was asked on Friday how caucus will feel about undoing the regulatory process they once supported.

“I think we need to have confidence to see that we are still upholding the values that we care about as Canadians, that we’re protecting the environment, that we’re doing this in a responsible way,” she said.