Environmental groups said the proposals would gut Canada’s environmental laws simply to fast-track infrastructure projects.

“The government’s main rationale is, it’s complicated and it takes time. Basically, our job is too hard. This is also not a convincing argument for removing environmental assessment for pipelines and nuclear projects,” said Marc-André Viau of the environmental group Équiterre.

“This policy paper rather suggests they only want to rubber stamp any projects that are put in front of them. They don’t want to assess, they only want to approve.”