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On the eve of the Throne Speech and in the wake of Teck’s decision to pull out of its Frontier Mine project, Premier Jason Kenney announced legislation targeting protesters who disrupt vital infrastructure networks.

Kenney blamed Teck’s withdrawal on Sunday in part on the “appearance of anarchy” caused by nationwide protests in support of Wet’suwet’en heridetary chiefs who are opposed to the CoastalGas Link project in northern B.C.

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“This decision was taken in large part because of regulatory uncertainty and endless delays created by the national government, as well as the general atmosphere of lawlessness that we have seen take hold of parts of our country and much of our economic infrastructure in the past three weeks,” said Kenney in a speech to caucus, government staff, invitees and media on Monday.

The first bill of the spring session will be the Critical Infrastructure Defense Act, creating new “stiff penalties for anyone who riots on or seeks to impair critical economic infrastructure,” Kenney said.