Introduced on September 21, 2026, by the federal government, Bill C-39 (Building Canada Strong Act) is an omnibus legislative package aimed at fast-tracking major infrastructure, natural resource projects, and interprovincial trade. While the BEA applauds the government’s desire to strengthen Canada’s economy by accelerating infrastructure growth, we share the concerns of respected environmental groups, first nations leaders, and labour organizations, who say this Bill is a dangerous attack on environmental protection, the right to strike, and indigenous consultation. These elements are what makes Canada a fair and just society based on the sustainability of our natural resources for generations now and in the future. When combined with legislation that also attacks environmental protection at the Provincial level, (see post about Ontario’s Bill 140), Bill C-39 leaves the door wide open for unchecked environmental degradation in a time when we are facing climate catastrophe and unprecedented loss of biodiversity. This cannot stand unopposed.

We are sending copies of the following letter to all Brampton MP. Please help us support our position and call or write your MP to amplify our message.

“We, the Brampton Environmental Alliance, a coalition of Brampton constituents from all walks of life, are deeply concerned about present and potential future attacks on Canada’s clean air, water, soil, and nature as a whole. We believe that it is in the best interest of Bramptonians and all of Canada to build in harmony with nature, not through destroying it. Our prosperity and wellbeing hinge upon thriving ecosystems and limiting the impacts of climate change. Recent governmental actions, including the proposal of Bill C-39, are in contradiction to these values and jeopardize Canadians.

We hereby urge you to fully oppose Bill C-39.

Here is why Bill C-39 is dangerous:

• Bill C-39 is an assault on our democracy: Bill C-39 is a massive, 250 page long omnibus bill that – if passed – would change many of our laws and have sweeping implications for our future. The breakneck speed with which this is being pushed is contrary to democratic principles of open consultation, transparency, and a carefully considered and informed process. We cannot gamble with our future.
  
• Bill C-39 lets industry bulldoze nature: Ministers would have sweeping powers to exempt companies from abiding critical legislation including the Species at Risk Act, the Navigable Waters Act, and the Fisheries Act.
  • They will be able to hand-pick any region in the country and turn it into a sacrifice zone where projects are pre-approved even before any information about them – including their location, scope and impact – is even known.
  • C-39 replaces independent review panels for very risky projects, including pipelines and nuclear energy projects, with a process led by regulating bodies that are more influenced by corporate lobbying. Independent review panels enable more meaningful expert scrutiny, public hearings and transparent examination of project impacts and Indigenous knowledge.
  • Where duplicate environmental reviews and/or consultation processes are a genuine reality, there are alternative means of streamlining processes which do not sacrifice necessary oversight and review and do not jeopardize nature. Additionally, there are cases such as Ontario’s where environmental oversight is being removed at the provincial level too, and implementing C-39 would leave dangerous oversight gaps.
    
• Bill C-39 is an attack on Indigenous rights: The bill takes away legislative mechanisms needed to uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples to hunt, fish, rely on traditional foods, and to access sacred sites. The laws still exist, but the ability for governments to circumvent them is widely expanded under the Bill.
  • C-39 expands the Building Canada Act to enable regions of national interest where projects could be pre-approved without free, prior and informed consent, based on a very narrow regional assessment conducted before such projects are even made public.
  • The Chiefs of Ontario, the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, and Nishnawbe Aski Nation are united in rejecting Bill C-39, saying that it “overrides the inherent, Treaty and constitutionally protected rights of First Nations.”

• Bill C-39 threatens workers’ right to strike: According to the Canadian Labour Congress put it, Bill C-39 would “give the Canadian government broader unilateral power to end a legal strike than exists in any other G7 country.” This is wholly unacceptable. At a time when authoritarian governments in other countries are tightening their chokehold on free speech, Canada must stand as an example of labour rights and the right to strike.
  
• Bill C-39 prioritizes profit over people: This law drops environmental assessment requirements for new pipelines. It imposes a one-year timeline that forces a rushed approval of new projects. And it gives Cabinet the power to “pre-approve” mega-projects before we know the details. Corporations which have long been polluting the planet and destroying workers’ health will profit, while ordinary Canadians pay the price through the consequences of climate change and natural destruction.

Recent polling shows that 50–59% of respondents are less likely to support an MP who backs taxpayer funding for another oil pipeline. And an early 2026 study demonstrated that nature is fundamental to Canadians, with 84.8% viewing it as central to national identity (Lemieux et al, 2026).

Canada can and must build economic resilience in sustainable ways: by investing in renewable energy and infrastructure as well as its natural riches in ways that abide by key oversight processes. Our clean air, water, soil, and biodiversity must not be sacrificed.

We urge you to do the right thing and oppose Bill C-39.

Respectfully,

The Brampton Environmental Alliance