QUESTION PERIOD — Privy Council Office
Major Projects Office
October 28, 2026
Government leader, testimony at the Standing House of Commons Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development revealed that your government’s Major Projects Office, or MPO, employs 200 people who are seconded and sponsored by private corporations that pay for a significant part of their salaries. Canadians are being asked to trust an internal conflict of interest review process, while the identities of the sponsoring companies remain confidential, and no independent Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner review was conducted.
Given the significant role this office plays in fast-tracking projects deemed to be in the national interest, how can your government justify this lack of transparency and assure Canadians that project approvals are free from real or perceived conflicts of interest?
Thank you for the question, Senator Martin. The Major Projects Office is a very important tool for the government because it will serve as a single point of contact for governments, proponents and Indigenous communities to submit their proposals for national building projects that will grow and transform Canada’s economy. Therefore, there will be transparency because there will be a decision-making process. Projects can be referred to the MPO by various members of civil society, and once a project is submitted, the MPO will conduct an initial assessment against five factors outlined in the Building Canada Act to determine if the project will be selected. There will be transparency throughout the projects implemented by the Major Projects Office.
If there will be transparency, and if your government is confident there are no conflicts, why won’t you commit to publicly disclosing which companies are sponsoring these employees and subject this arrangement to an independent ethics review for further transparency?
The way the Major Projects Office currently operates is very transparent. When a decision is made, we’ll see public announcements. Therefore, I would say that there is plenty of transparency in the procedure at present.
