Unceded Algonquin Territory — Ottawa, ON | May 15, 2026

Nature Canada is calling on its partners and supporters to urgently contact their Members of Parliament, to urge restraint and vote against any fast-tracked legislation based on the recent discussion papers:

• Getting Major Projects Built in Canada – Discussion Paper on Proposed Legislative, Regulatory, and Policy Reforms
• Strengthening One Canadian Economy through trade and transportation

These papers raise more questions than they answer and the timelines for consultation are insufficient to provide opportunity for the government to demonstrate that its new proposals are coherent with its own strategies to protect and restore nature.

These proposals, prioritizing rapid economic development by sidelining environmental review, are raising significant concerns about their alignment with Canada’s existing commitment to the 2030 Nature Strategy. With an extremely limited window for input, these papers introduce proposals that could lead to zones of environmental lawlessness, by weakening due diligence for development projects. Despite meetings with Government officials this week, Nature Canada has a long list of unanswered questions on how these concepts can coexist with the historic $3.8 billion “Force of Nature Action Plan.” We urge Prime Minister Carney to pause this rushed process and engage in meaningful, transparent dialogue to ensure environmental assessment remains a credible tool for sustainable economic prosperity.

“Nature Canada has placed great faith in the 2030 Nature Strategy as a pathway to protecting Canada’s future and we celebrated the Prime Minister’s historic investment of $3.8 Billion dollars earlier this Spring,” says Emily McMillan, Executive Director at Nature Canada. “We are puzzled how Prime Minister Carney can simultaneously commit to historic nature protection and then float proposals that risk creating these zones of environmental lawlessness? Our economic and environmental policy must be coherent for either to succeed.” 

Despite the urgency surrounding these papers, they leave a long list of unanswered questions that undermine confidence in the government’s commitment to nature. These proposals appear founded on an unsubstantiated assumption that existing environmental due diligence is a primary impediment to prosperity, and they contain dangerous ambiguities that could threaten the country’s most vulnerable ecosystems. Nature Canada demands transparent answers to the following critical questions before any legislation is considered:

• What is the evidence to support the assumption that current environmental assessment processes are hindering major projects, and why is this being prioritized over strengthening due diligence?
• What happens when a necessary federal review takes longer than the proposed one-year timeline, and how will the integrity of the process be maintained without undue political interference?
• How will “Special Economic Zones” be determined and regulated to ensure they do not become zones of environmental lawlessness?
• What specific mechanisms will protect long-term Canadian environmental and economic interests from foreign-backed applicants whose sole interest is extraction?
• How will critical terms like “national interest,” “environmental standards,” and “public interest” be clearly and legally defined, and what qualifications will Ministers be required to have when exercising these discretionary powers?
• How will the Cabinet and Ministers be held accountable for decisions that place species at risk in harm’s way, and what recourse will the public have?

“The effort to redefine environmental responsibility as mere ‘red tape’ is dangerously short-sighted,” says Akaash Maharaj, Director of Policy at Nature Canada. “Nature is not an impediment to economic development; environmental assessment is the ‘credit check’ before we write the loan. It is due diligence, fiduciary responsibility, and the only way to build prosperity that endures. Setting aside Canada’s responsibilities would be a dangerous misstep, and we call on Prime Minister Carney to recognize the long-term advantages of treating nature as an economic ally, not an obstacle.” 

Nature Canada will insist upon a more cohesive approach to prosperity that does not undermine the historic commitments embedded in the $3.8 billion Force of Nature Action Plan and the 2030 Nature Strategy. We are therefore redoubling our efforts, urging our network of partners and supporters across the country to voice their concerns to their Members of Parliament and encourage them to vote against any fast-tracked legislation based on these discussion papers. Parliamentarians must reject these proposals until the government provides a clear and public demonstration of how these changes will work hand-in-hand with Canada’s essential commitment to halting and reversing biodiversity loss.

Nature Canada is Canada’s voice for nature. For 85 years, Nature Canada has helped protect over 110 million acres of parks and wildlife areas in Canada and countless species. Today, Nature Canada represents a network of over 200,000 members and supporters and more than 1,000 nature organizations.

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For more information contact: 

Scott Mullenix
613-562-3447 ext. 230
media@naturecanada.ca