Tim Louis

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Ron Schlegel, whose passing leaves a profound loss for the Waterloo region and for communities across Canada. Driven by a deep Mennonite faith and a commitment to helping others, Ron devoted his life to building stronger, more caring communities. Through Schlegel Villages, the Research Institute for Aging and the elder wisdom program, he transformed the way we care for seniors and improved countless lives, while also making lasting contributions to mental health, research, and community development. Ron helped establish the University of Waterloo's School of Public Health Sciences and was awarded the Order of Canada, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal and honorary doctorates from several Canadian universities. However, those who knew Ron remember not the awards, but his humility, kindness and genuine interest in people. He always focused on improving the lives of others. On behalf of the people of Kitchener—Conestoga, I extend my sincere condolences to his family and loved ones. Ron's legacy of service, compassion and community building will endure for generations. He will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to Ron Schlegel, whose passing leaves a profound loss for the Waterloo region and for communities across Canada. Driven by a deep Mennonite faith and a commitment to helping others, Ron devoted his life to building stronger, more caring communities. Through Schlegel Villages, the Research Institute for Aging and the elder wisdom program, he transformed the way we care for seniors and improved countless lives, while also making lasting contributions to mental health, research and community development. Ron helped establish the University of Waterloo's School of Public Health Sciences and was awarded the Order of Canada, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal and honorary doctorates from multiple Canadian universities. Those who knew Ron remember not the awards, but his humility, kindness and genuine interest in people. He always focused on improving the lives of others. On behalf of the people of Kitchener—Conestoga, I extend my sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Ron. His legacy of service, compassion and community building will endure for generations. Ron will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak to the building Canada strong act. We find ourselves at a critical juncture in our nation's history. Around the world, global trade patterns are shifting, geopolitical instability is rising and competition for capital is fierce. For years, Canada has relied heavily on a single trading partner, leaving our businesses, workers and communities vulnerable to external shocks and sudden tariffs. To secure our national sovereignty and long-term prosperity, Canada must build capacity for true economic self-reliance. Our government set an ambitious goal to double our non-U.S. exports over the next decade, unlocking new trade and attracting investment. As a nation, we are now turning that potential into progress. Federal decision-making in Canada has been slow, fragmented and plagued by duplication. Projects that could create good-paying jobs and power our clean energy transition have faced regulatory paralysis, taking up to five years or more just to get answers. The building Canada strong act would address these structural bottlenecks directly through three interconnected pillars: accelerating major project reviews, modernizing supply chains and trade corridors, and modernizing collective bargaining and strengthening worker protections. I know that significant legislation can raise concerns, so today I want to address questions that are being raised regarding environmental protections, labour rights and indigenous reconciliation and explain how this bill would address them. A question that has been raised is, if we accelerate federal reviews, how do we do so without cutting corners or weakening environmental standards? I want to be clear that the building Canada strong act represents a reform of process, not a reduction of standards. This is not a choice between protecting the environment and building major infrastructure. We can and we must do both. Under our current system, federal departments review projects consecutively. A proponent might spend two years completing an assessment under the Impact Assessment Act, only to start from scratch with separate sequential permits from Fisheries and Oceans Canada or Transport Canada. That is unnecessary duplication. This bill would transition federal reviews from consecutive to concurrent workflows. Under the new framework, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada would coordinate federal departments simultaneously. In plain terms, instead of making projects wait in line for one department after another, all federal agencies would work at the same time, together. The federal government would commit to completing its review and delivering one comprehensive federal decision, whether it is a yes or a no, within one year once a complete application is submitted. The scope of environmental assessments would remain intact, incorporating health, social and environmental impacts, along with indigenous traditional knowledge. Our government listened carefully during extensive consultations, where we received over 26,000 submissions. In response to this feedback, we have explicitly removed proposed changes to the Species at Risk Act jeopardy clause, so the Species at Risk Act would remain fully untouched and uncompromisingly protected. Strong environmental protections remain a non-negotiable foundation of our approach, ensuring that economic growth and conservation go hand in hand. By identifying environmental considerations earlier in the process, this approach maintains environmental protection while providing greater certainty for communities and for project proponents alike. The second area of feedback comes from our union workforce and labour representatives. Workers want to know that legislation will not restrict the constitutional right to strike or expand government intervention in collective bargaining. I firmly believe that a strong economy is built by well-paid, protected workers. The building Canada strong act would preserve and enshrine the constitutional right to strike. The best, most durable agreements are those negotiated directly by workers and employees at the bargaining table. To address disputes in critical supply chain sectors or disagreements that can leave negotiations stalled for months due to bad-faith bargaining from employers or unions, this bill would modernize the Canada Labour Code to help parties reach an agreement before a crisis occurs. For complex negotiations, we would be starting talks earlier and extending federal conciliation time. Rather than forcing a deal, a neutral conciliator would help manage discussions and work with employers and unions toward a fair compromise before a dispute escalates to a work stoppage. We would be introducing a special mediator to help resolve deadlocks. If talks stall, their reports would be published publicly within five days to hold both sides accountable. Beyond dispute resolution, we would be investing directly in workers' everyday protections by strengthening workplace safety, by resolving complaints faster and by cracking down on wage theft. The building Canada strong act would ensure that as we grow our economy, we protect, respect and support the workers who build it. The third thing I would like to address is our constitutional and moral obligations to indigenous peoples. The Crown's duty to consult and accommodate is constitutionally protected. It is non-negotiable, and it would be fully mandated under this act. Economic reconciliation is embedded in this legislation through the indigenous advisory committees and through enabling indigenous equity ownership in major infrastructure. This bill would replace the confusing web of separate departmental reviews with a new Crown consultation hub, giving indigenous communities one single coordinated federal contact point for every project. To grow our economy together, we must also modernize our trade corridors and transportation networks. Eighty per cent of Canada's non-U.S. trade moves through our marine ports. The building Canada strong act would establish a tell-us-once digital frame network. By transitioning from paper-based forms to UN-aligned electronic trade records, we eliminate duplicate filings across government departments and can unlock tremendous economic potential for Canadian exporters. In conclusion, we will build a stronger Canada by standing with the people who build it. The building Canada strong act is an ambitious, integrated economic package. It would bring speed and certainty to project approvals while upholding world-leading environmental standards. It would respect section 35 indigenous rights while streamlining consultation. It would protect the constitutional right to strike while equipping workers and employers with modern tools to reach fair deals at the bargaining table. Let us move forward together, support our workers, protect our environment and build an economy that is resilient, competitive and strong for all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I respect my colleague. These are the kinds of conversations we need to have now in the House. By setting up an indigenous advisory council, we will get in consultation right away on projects. Also, we will start earlier. If we know that projects are going to be in certain areas and certain ports, we are going to start environmental assessments and start working even before a project is put forward. If we are working within departments to do environmental assessments and consultations with indigenous communities in advance, then when things start, when a project comes forward, we will already have baseline data that can be used. Each project will be able to draw from that baseline data and use it moving forward. By doing that in conjunction with working consecutively and having the consultation hub, we can work a lot faster and work together to get things done while protecting indigenous rights.

Mr. Speaker, my French is not there yet to answer in French. I am getting there. The Impact Assessment Act is still in place. Some of the projects that are used to going through the CER, the regulator, are still going to go through it, but it is an arm's-length process. By working together through the Impact Assessment Act and through the CER, we are going to make sure that these projects happen at arm's length and that thoroughness is done.