The BC NDP’s new Infrastructure Projects Act (Bill 15), introduced on May 1, is being called a measure to accelerate critical infrastructure in British Columbia.
But beneath the surface, the legislation carries troubling implications for transparency, accountability, and regional equity.
There are two pieces to this. The first allows cabinet to get around lengthy approval processes at the local government level.
The second allows cabinet to expedite projects through the provincial permitting process, although they have excluded LNG plants and pipelines as they do not deem it to be critical infrastructure.
While some local leaders, like Prince George Mayor Simon Yu, see the potential for partnership with a “more involved” provincial government, the concerns raised by BC Conservative MLA Kiel Giddens (Prince George-Mackenzie) — particularly about unchecked cabinet power and the potential for regional neglect — are justified. The public should take those concerns seriously.
Bill 15 would allow the NDP to bypass or override local approval processes, expedite environmental permits deemed “low risk” and unilaterally designate projects as being of “provincial significance.”
The government may think this sounds like efficiency, but it doesn’t sound like that to us.
As Giddens rightly pointed out, this creates a scenario where cabinet could rewrite local zoning bylaws or override regulations from Victoria without a single local public meeting.
That should concern everyone who values democratic process and regional autonomy.
The legislation echoes a troubling trend of centralization under the current NDP government. As Giddens noted, it bears a striking resemblance to Bill 7, which also gave cabinet significant powers, this time in response to foreign trade actions.
In both bills, the pattern is clear: Cabinet is granted broad authority to act without meaningful legislative or public oversight.
This isn’t streamlining; it’s sidelining.
These concerns are particularly acute for northern communities like Prince George, where residents have long felt the sting of policies crafted with the Lower Mainland in mind.
The north is too often treated as an afterthought — its economic drivers, infrastructure challenges, and development potential overshadowed by Vancouver-centric priorities.
In a democratic system, we expect opposition parties to question power, and Giddens is doing exactly that. His warnings about the potential for NDP overreach are grounded in legitimate concern, not only for democratic accountability, but for ensuring northern voices aren’t drowned out by the noise of Lower Mainland priorities.
Yu’s optimism is understandable. Prince George and Northern BC do need provincial and federal support for infrastructure to enable housing and industrial development. But that support must come with respect for local decision-making, not a blank cheque for Victoria to override councils and regional districts at will.
Yu may not be worried about provincial overreach today, but the wording of Bill 15 opens the door for it.
What’s more, the bill has a highly politicized vision of infrastructure, one that sidelines oil and gas in favour of renewables regardless of regional economic realities.
This is another cause for concern. Giddens’s point about energy sovereignty is well taken.
Northern BC depends on natural resource development, and while renewable energy is undoubtedly part of the province’s future, it cannot be the only option permitted for fast-tracking.
Giddens hits the mark again, identifying the public procurement as another issue.
The NDP’s preference for union-only contracts has limited bidding competition and driven up costs, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill and allowing more projects to fall under centralized control. Without fixing these procurement practices, the problem may only worsen.
Lastly, Giddens correctly draws attention to the increasingly murky trail of infrastructure spending.
As more projects come in over budget and the newly formed Ministry of Infrastructure expands its reach, it becomes harder for opposition MLAs, let alone the public, to scrutinize the money trail.
The province announcing that it intends to accelerate critical infrastructure projects needs to be more than a blank sheet with a signature at the bottom, to be filled in later. There needs to be clear guardrails on what the Act authorizes.
Giving the cabinet even more authority without fiscal transparency only fuels public mistrust.
If the government truly wants to work with municipalities, it should do so through partnership, not by granting itself the power to act alone.
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