The major projects and internal trade bill that was passed through parliament last week could open the door to better partnerships and growth with municipalities, says Tim Tierney, Ottawa city councillor and vice-president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).
Bill C-5 moved through parliament with lightning speed after it was introduced earlier in June but studied by committee for only two days before returning to the Commons. It now moves to the Senate for final votes and if approved, royal assent.
The legislation creates a framework to select projects of national importance that would benefit from a fast-tracked approval process. Cabinet would select the projects based on five factors — economic benefits, likelihood of success, advancing the interests of Indigenous peoples, contributing to clean growth and strengthening Canada’s autonomy, resilience and security — and in consultation with the provinces, territories and Indigenous rights holders.
The bill also removes duplicative federal standards on inter-provincial trade and recognizes provincial certifications for workers on federal projects. This means companies trading within Canada only need to meet requirements in their own respective province, and could ignore federal rules like the national energy efficiency standards. It also means workers would only need to be certified in their own province before taking part in federal projects.
“Now that C-5 is moving ahead, we just want to make sure that the local government is included,” said Tierney, who is councillor for Beacon Hill-Cyrville ward. “We support it and we think this is great, but we also have to really recognize that municipalities are part of this solution as well.”
For example, he said FCM has been “really harping on for a while” about streamlining infrastructure approvals and that he hopes this “national view” doesn’t sideline local projects and commitments.
“One that’s hitting home here when we’re talking about something of a national priority, that could be the high speed rail between Montreal and Toronto, with Ottawa being one of the stations. We think that’s a national prosperity project,” explained. “So while it’s great, and we fully support… We don’t want to forget about all the other commitments that were made.”
One project that is top of mind in Ottawa is the Eastern Bridge, which will aim to connect Ottawa and Gatineau, re-routing traffic from the downtown core. But Ottawa-Vanier MP Mona Fortier recently opposed the project, arguing that she didn’t think the chosen location was suitable, or that the plan as-is would divert trucks from downtown as expected.
There have also been concerns about the project’s price tag — estimated at $3-4 billion — and uncertainty among federal workers about proposed cuts.
“There was a feeling that money is better served [elsewhere]. And this is someone that’s in government, that is the MP that is saying that money is better served,” said Tierney. “There’s no real way to connect the Montreal highway and the Toronto highway. You have to go through the middle of Ottawa. So this is where, you know, municipalities really have a big role, especially here in Ottawa, where we see a lot of those crossovers taking place, and we need the municipal government to have some kind of voice at the table.
“You have both the mayor of our city and the mayor of Gatineau saying, look, there’s an investment over $3 billion going ahead on a project for a tram system between Gatineau and Ottawa. That’s something that we support,” he said. “We don’t support $3.4 billion for a bridge when we just heard that there’s probably going to be some of the largest federal government cuts in history. How does that change traffic patterns? There’s a lot there, and the timing is kind of perfect for this discussion.”
With the prime minister representing an Ottawa riding, Tierney said he hopes Ottawa can have more of a voice at the Hill, including from Fortier.
“We’re simpatico with the province. We’re hoping the federal government here in Ottawa will listen to the one of the longer serving MPs, Fortier, about where we can spend some of that money and make sure some of it stays here in Ottawa.”
Advocacy for municipalities has been on Tierney’s mind as he has travelled to the United States in recent weeks, meeting with American municipalities and discussing cross-border trade.
“That is the hot topic. You never know one day, one day the tariffs are on, one day they’re off… We’re still going to continue being the [FCM] to have that outreach, not only just to the United States, but it could extend into, you know, Britain, other partners with Canada,” he said. “And if we can educate other municipalities about the benefits of trade, that’s just another arm of FCM that we’ve been fulfilling for the last year.”
And while the House of Commons takes a step back for the summer, Tierney said he’s expected a very busy few months for municipal leaders.
“Regardless if the House is sitting or not, for especially municipal politicians, we’re observing what’s happening south of the border, and we’re talking to all 2,000 member municipalities across the country all through the summer, because it affects everyone,” he said. “It is a real struggle. No municipal politician that I know of is going to be really taking much time off this summer.”
