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One definition floating through legislation actually leaves the gate open for the Governor in Council — i.e. Carney’s Liberal cabinet — to make up definitions as they go:

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“In deciding whether to make an order under any of subsections (1), (3) and (4) in respect of a region, the Governor in Council may consider any factor that the Governor in Council considers relevant, including the extent to which projects of an eligible type within that region can:

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(a) strengthen Canada’s autonomy, resilience and security;

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(b) provide economic or other benefits to Canada;

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(c) have a high likelihood of successful execution;

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(d) advance the interests of Indigenous peoples; and

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(e) contribute to clean growth and to meeting Canada’s objectives with respect to climate change.”

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The objective, Carney has said, is to “remove red tape” and open the gates to “building at home, building Canada strong, building in a way that builds for all” — slogans now all too familiar to Canadians.

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The national interest program does not really remove red tape. Obstructive tape remains in place across the economy. The difference is that the government will now assume arbitrary power to ignore the red tape — often designed to block private-sector economic activity and deprive private actors of their rights — by overriding existing legal and bureaucratic obstacles and imposing direct government control over economic activity.

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Instead of allowing economic activity to evolve in a market setting, the government is setting up a new regulatory regime. As C.D. Howe Institute economist Kate Koplovich noted in FP Comment, the C-39 package “puts projects at the mercy of politics.” Impact assessments and energy projects will become subject to policy and ideological objectives “that don’t belong in such reviews (like climate change, sustainability and the intersection of sex and gender with other identify factors”).

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Projects covered by C-39 include the multibillion-dollar Pacific Link oil pipeline to the West Coast, described by Carney as “a project of national interest.” The economic viability of the pipeline is apparently irrelevant because it will be owned by Ottawa and Alberta.

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Hundreds of lesser economic developments are now under government control. Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford this week announced $9 billion in new federal funding for projects in the province.

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There is much more to come, as promised this week by Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who introduced a new list — of highways, new ports and terminals, and nuclear waste facilities. “I understand (the Conservatives) share our enthusiasm for designation, the listing of projects of national interest,” he said. “Good news is coming again soon.”

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When it comes to the national interest, however, good political news is often bad economic policy news.

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