2025 Environmental Assessment: Is an authoritarian shift underway?

Montréal, December 8, 2025 – Environmental organizations and groups are joining forces to sound the alarm: the past year marks a worrying turning point for environmental democracy in Québec and the rest of Canada.Under the pretext of “economic acceleration,” governments are stepping up legislative measures that weaken laws and countervailing powers, marginalize science, and reduce citizen participation.

A worrying democratic setback in Québec

Over the past year, an unprecedented accumulation of bills undermining the rule of law has been observed, notably through the use of gag orders, the tabling of omnibus bills, and the expansion of the government’s discretionary powers. Among the most troubling examples are the energy bill (Bill 69), the forestry bill (Bill 97), the omnibus bill (Bill 81), the Stablex bill (Bill 93), Bill 7, and the recent Constitution Act.

Taken together, these texts reflect a significant trend toward the erosion of the rule of law and the weakening of democratic safeguards.

“When a government limits debate, circumvents its own laws, attacks scientific legitimacy, reduces checks and balances, and increases the concentration of power in the hands of a few, the very foundations of our democracy find themselves under attack.”

The environment also sacrificed by the federal government

The organizations denounce government rhetoric that constantly pits the environment against economic development and implies that environmental standards are a “burden,” a common thread that is emerging at the federal level, particularly with the adoption of Bill C-5 and the tabling of Bill C-15 (budget bill), currently being debated in the Canadian Parliament.

The organizations point out that democracy, science, and environmental laws are not obstacles for Québec, but rather essential foundations for collective well-being and for a truly resilient and sustainable economy. When laws become optional, damage to the environment and, more broadly, to the protection of the rights of the general public and First Nations becomes inevitable.

The organizations call on the government of Québec and Canada’s federal government to suspend legislative measures that weaken environmental law; to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples; to restore the place of science in decision-making processes; to encourage citizen and democratic participation; and to protect the principles underlying respect for the rule of law.

Environmental organizations invite the public, elected officials, the media, and institutions to join forces to preserve democracy, protect the environment, and uphold knowledge and science, which have become integral parts of our fundamental societal values.

“The environment is the canary in the coal mine. If we do not all work together to counter this authoritarian drift, it will continue to claim more victims in the name of sacrosanct economic growth.”