Buried on page 300 of the government’s omnibus budget implementation bill is an extremely troubling clause regarding corporate power in Canada—one that allows all cabinet ministers to exempt any individual or corporation from any federal Canadian law they are responsible for (with the exception of the Criminal Code). These exemptions just have to be justified as being “in the public interest” and “encourag[ing] innovation, competitiveness or economic growth,” concepts so vague that they could be invoked for virtually any law.
In theory, this new provision applies equally to all individuals and corporations, but history tells us that large corporations have disproportionate access to government officials and are able to get their way. The broad nature of this new provision means that corporations could be able to avoid everything from environmental regulations to conflict of interest laws, so long as they have a single minister on board.
h/t Mauser
