Elbows Up for Nature
Have Your Say: Tell the government that fast-tracking projects shouldn’t mean weaker nature protections.
To ‘Build Canada Strong’ the government shouldn’t have to make nature protections weak. In a recently announced discussion paper, the federal government asks Canadians to consider a concerning proposal for how “nation-building” projects could be fast-tracked.
The proposal aims to weaken the guardrails that uphold environmental integrity, Indigenous rights, and community wellbeing. If it goes through as written, it will set the conservation clock back by decades.
The government is asking Canadians to share their feedback on the draft proposal. You have until July 22 to participate.
Can we count on you to speak up for nature?
Building Canada’s economy shouldn’t come at nature’s expense. Raise your voice, this public consultation could shape Canada for generations.
Why CPAWS is Alarmed
It’s more than risky business
If this new proposal is approved, it could open the door for species and habitats to be treated as trade-offs for industrial opportunity. It would take us back to a time before environmental rules were written. It would:
- Allows Species at Risk protection to be overridden → projects could be approved despite higher extinction risks to species, like the Southern Resident Killer Whale.
- Create “Federal Economic Zones” where normal rules won’t apply → could pre-approve projects without assessing environmental implications or consulting surrounding communities.
- Condense federal impact assessments to one year (even for complex projects) → rushed decisions that don’t understand the full impact on people or nature.
- Gives one minister power to grant permits and approvals → less transparency, politics over expertise, critical habitats and species treated as a trade‑offs for industry.
Read more about what’s at stake.
Why this matters to you, and all Canadians
What we fight to protect today, shapes how Canada will look for future generations.
The government promised a road to prosperity for Canadians, and that they would balance the needs of the economy and the environment to get us there; but building fast isn’t the same as building well. If the government is serious about ‘Building Canada Strong’, it should move faster without dismantling the safeguards that prevent costly disasters, protect Indigenous rights, and keep nature intact.
- Nature protections keep our water drinkable, wildlife habitat intact, and communities safer from the impacts of climate change like floods, fires, and extreme temperatures.
- Removing environmental guardrails increases biodiversity loss. This isn’t just an environmental issue, it’s an economic risk that creates supply chain disruptions, rising insurance costs and expensive disaster recovery.
- Decisions made now will shape what Canada’s public lands, waters, and wildlife look like for generations. Canadians deserve to understand what’s being proposed and how choices are made.
This new proposal isn’t leadership. It’s backsliding. While CPAWS supports removing unnecessary barriers and reducing delays for project approvals, the current recommendations are not the answer that nature or Canadians need.
Promises & Pullbacks
Now, more than ever, nature needs your elbows up. It’s been a year of conservation whiplash with the federal government:
January 2025
Bill C-73 (Nature Accountability Act) is sidelined when parliament was prorogued. The Act wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.
April 2025
Things looked a little brighter when nature was introduced into the Liberal Election Platform—although the promises were mild, it was a step in the right direction.
June 2025
Bill C-5 “One Canadian Economy Act” was rushed through parliament, allowing a federal process that could scale back environmental protections and bypass consultation with Indigenous communities.
November 2025
The days got shorter and darker—so did nature’s prospects when nature was not mentioned at all in the federal budget and the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Audit (CESD) showed how much more funding still needed to meet the scale of work needed to effectively reach Canada’s nature protection goals.
Late 2025
With the Nature Strategy still M.I.A, Carney then signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Alberta to carve new industrial corridors that would leave gaps in environmental safeguards, possibly putting the north Pacific coast and its communities at risk.
March 31st, 2026
The A Force of Nature strategy arrives, committing $3.5 billion over five years for conservation. This is a meaningful step forward. Now the test is delivery: can it get Canada back on track to protect 30% of our land, freshwater and ocean by 2030?
April 2026
Spring Economic Update announces additional funding; more than $250 million over five years with a commitment to mitigate risks for marine life along the pacific coast, as trade and ship traffic increases. The gap grows between funding and outcomes: we now have a paycheck, we’re waiting on the roadmap to reach our 2030 destination.
May 2026
An alarming proposal is announced with recommendations to expedite nation-building projects. By fast-tracking the impact assessment process, treating critical species and habitats as trade-offs for industrial opportunity, and suggesting “economic zones” to sidestep the normal rules, the proposal contradicts the nature protection values that were recently touted by A Force of Nature.