{"id":76045,"date":"2026-09-23T13:54:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T17:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=76045"},"modified":"2026-09-24T16:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T20:33:08","slug":"greenpeace-canada-reacts-to-the-introduction-of-bill-c-39-the-bulldoze-nature-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/press-release\/76045\/greenpeace-canada-reacts-to-the-introduction-of-bill-c-39-the-bulldoze-nature-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenpeace Canada reacts to the introduction of Bill C-39, The Bulldoze Nature Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TORONTO <\/strong>\u2013  On the first day of the Fall Parliamentary session, the federal government released its long-awaited Bill C-39 introduced by the Minister of Transport, and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Steven MacKinnon. <\/p>\n\n

The legislation, described<\/a> by the federal government as aiming to \u201cbuild Canada strong and create certainty for a more competitive, resilient and independent Canadian economy\u201d outlines key proposals listed in this summer\u2019s Getting Major Project Built Discussion Paper<\/a>, as well as includes sweeping changes to the Canada Labour Code, notably on bargaining disputes. The discussion paper received major backlash from many Indigenous and environmental groups upon its release, and was criticized for its major rollback of environmental laws, disregard of its duty to seek Free, Prior and Informed Consent from Indigenous Peoples, and its short consultation timeline, which was later extended by a little over a month. <\/p>\n\n

An earlier proposal of the discussion paper to amend the Species at Risk Act<\/em>, which would have granted Cabinet limited power to exempt specific projects from the application of the jeopardy test for species at risk<\/a>, was initially dropped by the federal government. This followed backlash from environmental groups and supporters, including Greenpeace Canada, who are worried that the change threatened the existence of already at-risk populations of animals like the Southern Resident orcas and salmon, and that the provision would have put them on a faster path to extirpation. However, Bill C-39 still outlines ways that the Species At Risk Act<\/em> could be weakened, thereby undermining the federal government\u2019s earlier announcement. <\/p>\n\n

Another key proposal of the discussion paper was announced last week, when Ottawa confirmed<\/a> cross-border oil pipelines, oilsands drilling facilities and natural gas-fired power plants would no longer be subject to the federal government\u2019s impact assessment. Meanwhile, Canada just lived through another summer of climate change-fuelled <\/a>extreme weather with record wildfires devastation in many Indigenous communities across the country, severe flooding in Manitoba, and heatwaves and thunderstorm watches from coast to coast to coast. <\/p>\n\n

Specifics of the bill include:<\/p>\n\n