Reading about the Liberals’ One Canadian Economy Act, or Bill C-5, and the rush to get it through Parliament, I was reminded of the infamous Facebook motto: move fast and break things. Facebook’s reckless expansion resulted in major scandals involving user privacy, interference in elections, the spread of misinformation and a genocide in Myanmar.

Bill C-5 isn’t about to precipitate a genocide, but it carries significant risks, both to our democratic process and to the environment. The bill intends, among other things, to create a list of major nation-building projects and expedite their approval.

While insisting that the government is committed to “upholding rigorous standards with respect to environmental protection,” sections 21 and 22 allow cabinet to exempt pipelines and other projects from a list of environmental legislation, including the Species at Risk Act and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. To claim it will uphold rigorous environmental standards while simultaneously negating environmental laws is, to say the least, disingenuous.

These sections would give cabinet the right to alter the operation of laws duly passed by Parliament, including outright exemption. Cabinet, in other words, could usurp the rights of Parliament. Such powers are called Henry VIII clauses as they in effect give the cabinet kingly powers.

Bill C-5 is now complemented by Ontario’s Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act which recently became law. It empowers the province to create special economic zones where companies or projects don’t have to comply with provincial regulations or municipal bylaws.

With these bills, PM Carney and Premier Ford are creating the unfortunate impression that they are exploiting Donald Trump’s tariff nonsense to—if I may borrow the title of the Ontario act—unleash the economy on the environment.

This “leap before you look” approach in getting projects built will, and this may be part of the reasoning, seriously hinder robust public participation, quite aside from getting public buy-in. Rushing major projects can, in addition to resulting in serious harm to the environment, lead to public backlash, cost overruns and lawsuits.

The bill should have no trouble passing, even with a minority government, as the Conservatives have indicated they will support it, not surprisingly with their tendency to prioritize economic interests over the environment. Their only complaint is that it doesn’t go far enough. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May suggests “Mr. Carney’s new majority coalition is Liberal-Conservative, delivering Pierre Poilievre’s policies with a more friendly face.”

This makes one wonder just how this legislation would be used if the Conservatives were to win the next election. Even a member of the Liberal caucus expressed concern about that.

In Alberta we became familiar with Henry VIII clauses when Premier Danielle Smith sought such powers for cabinet with her Sovereignty Act. Ultimately the resulting outcry proved too much and she backed down, removing the offending sections from the bill.

Let’s hope that our prime minister, new to democratic process, will respect it at least as much as Premier Smith eventually did. Giving cabinet the power of kings and disrespecting the environment are things we should leave to the new American administration. How ironic if, in responding to Trump’s tariff mischief, we emulate his practices.