Open Letter to Federal Parliamentarians to remove “Henry the VIII” exemption powers from Budget Bill C-15

Last month, Living Oceans and SeaChoice member groups joined 100+ prominent law and human rights experts, labour, sector leaders and civil society organizations warn the proposed amendments to the Red Tape Reduction Act in Bill C-15 set Canada on a dangerous anti-democratic track.  

The letter (re-posted below) was organized by Ecojustice Canada, Canadian Civil Liberties Association Centre, and Québécois du droit de l'environnement. 

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 for 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 the 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 
Jennifer Quaid, Professeure titulaire, Section de droit civil, Université d’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 
Ladan Mehranvar, Senior Legal Researcher, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment 
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