Dear Members of Parliament:
The resilience of Canadian democracy and the rule of law is not unshakeable. It is fragile and precious, and it is arguably the most pivotal tool we can wield to protect ourselves and our communities when both our sovereignty and economy are under threat. Yet, Bill C-15, which the federal government has espoused as its answer to the economic attacks that Canada is facing, contains a major threat to the very constitutional underpinning that ensures a thriving democratic governance system.
Buried on page 300 of a more than 600-page long budget implementation bill is a constitutional abomination. Part 5, Division 5 of this bill introduces draconian powers that allow federal ministers to exempt any individual, company or government (including its own federal departments) from the application of any federal law or regulation. No legislation is safe, except the Criminal Code. Not our labour standards. Not our health and safety regulations. Not laws that uphold Indigenous rights and sovereignty. Not environmental protection laws. And not even laws that protect our security and privacy.
These “Henry the VIII” powers — which refer to the ability of the executive (here, ministers) to unilaterally change an act of Parliament — are an affront to the separation of powers: the constitutional architecture that ensures a system where Parliament makes laws, the executive implements them, and the courts interpret them. This balance is a hallmark of a thriving Canadian democracy and one that will define how we as a country resist a troubling trend of democratic decline that we observe around the world.
As many legal experts asserted in testimonies and submissions in the Parliamentary and Senate committee hearings on Bill C-15, the proposed changes to the Red Tape Reduction Act cannot be characterized as “regulatory sandboxing.” They are in fact a dramatic departure from the common regulatory sandbox approach in Canadian law, which temporarily creates targeted, tightly controlled and highly transparent environments that enable the testing of new technologies to better understand their impacts — including how to regulate them. If passed, the amended Red Tape Reduction Act would introduce vague and overbroad notions like “competitiveness” and “economic growth” as legitimate reasons for exemptions from any Act of Parliament. Left for the interpretation of the minister that wants to wield them, these terms can mean anything.
These exemption powers do not streamline regulation — they dynamite the rule of law itself by creating a two-tier legislative system whereby laws debated and enacted by Parliament can be suspended for political convenience with little to no accountability or transparency.
We call on you to stand up for Canada’s democratic tradition and advocate for the removal of Part 5, Division 5 of Bill C-15. These powers, if passed, have the potential to undermine decades of law-making by Parliament and suspend laws that were intentionally designed by you and your colleagues — past and present — to protect our families, our public health, our security, the air that we breathe, our iconic endangered species, and issues that your constituents cherish. They will set Canada on the wrong path toward a weaker Parliamentary democracy, with potentially catastrophic implications.
We urge you to stand up for the Parliament and people you serve. Stand up for the rule of law. Stand up for the constitutional order that can protect our democracy.
Remove Part 5, Division 5 from Bill C-15.
List of signatories:
Canadian Civil Liberties Association
CQDE – Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement
Ecojustice
David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights
Canadian Labour Congress
Alex Neve, O.C., Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa
Human Rights Watch
Canadian Public Health Association
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
Iranian Canadian Legal Professionals (ICLP)
Democracy Watch
Jamie Cameron, Professor Emerita
James L Turk, Director, Centre for Free Expression
Penelope Simons, Professor, Common Law and Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre
Egale Canada
National Farmers Union
Arab Canadian Lawyers Association
Breast Cancer Action Quebec / Action cancer du sein du Québec
BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
West Coast Environmental Law Association
Dr. Angela Cameron, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Canadian Environmental Law Association
Équiterre
Alain Branchaud, Directeur général, SNAP Québec
East Coast Environmental Law
Grand Riverkeeper Labrador
Legal Advocates for Nature’s Defence
David Suzuki Foundation
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment – Ontario Committee
Environmental Defence Canada
Canadian Council for Refugees
Greenpeace Canada
Caroline Brouillette, Climate Action Network Canada
Nature Canada
Travailleuses et travailleurs pour la justice climatique / Workers for climate justice
Laurence Guénette, Ligue des droits et libertés
OpenMedia
Gavin Pitchford, CEO, Delta Management Group/Clean50
Front commun québécois pour une gestion écologique des déchets
Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada
For Our Kids, Burnaby
Justice For Migrant Workers Living Oceans Society
Tylene Appel and Alan Silverman, Seniors for Climate Action Now!
Climate Justice Saskatoon
Friends of the Earth Canada
Climate Legacy
Dr. Trevor Hancock, Emeritus Professor of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria
Christopher Campbell-Duruflé, Assistant Professor, Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Toronto Metropolitan University
Gareth Gransaull, re-generation
Canadian Interfaith Fast For the Climate
Slovenian Home Association
Decolonial Solidarity
Mères au front
350 Canada
Calgary Climate Hub
The ENRICH Project
Above Ground (a project of MakeWay)
Prevent Cancer Now
Dr. Geoffrey Strong, Retired Atmospheric/Climate Scientist
Ecology Action Centre
Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project (CAMP)
Council of Canadians
Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet (GASP)
Second Wind Liberation
Leadnow
Daniel Mockle, Professeur de droit public, Faculté de Science politique et de Droit, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
Rebecca MacLeod, Executive Director, New Grocery Movement
Alliance 4 Democracy/Sunshine Coast Seniors for Climate Action Now
Climate Action for Lifelong Learners (CALL)
MiningWatch Canada
Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment
Avalon/NL chapter, Council of Canadians
Lindsay McLaren, Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary
Camille Fréchette, Lawyer
Environmental Justice & Sustainability Clinic, Osgoode Hall Law School
Fondation Rivières
Rébecca Pétrin, Directrice générale, Eau Secours
Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ)
SeaChoice
Teachers for Future Turtle Island
Touwendé Roland Ouedraogo, Chargé de cours à l’UQAM et à l’UdeM
BCTF Divest Now
Inter Pares
Stand.earth
Shift: Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health (A project of Makeway)
Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability / Réseau canadien sur la reddition de compte des entreprises
Vigilance OGM
Canadian Health Association for Sustainability and Equity (CHASE)
Anne-Josée Laquerre, Directrice générale et co-initiatrice, Québec Net Positif
Touch Grass Club
Alexandre Lillo, Professeur – Département des sciences juridiques (UQÀM)
Elisabeth Patterson, avocate et associée, Dionne Schulze
Cédric Gagnon-Ducharme, Avocat
Dr. Alexandra Pedersen, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Queen’s University
Manitoba Eco-Network Inc.
Zero Waste BC
Kate Petriw, Communications and Narratives Co-Lead, Wellbeing Economy Alliance (Canada)
Chief Allan Adam, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
Seniors For Climate
Environmental Law Centre (Alberta) Society
