The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that 14 years ago, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper made wide-ranging changes that were aimed at securing the construction of major infrastructure such as pipelines, but ultimately had the opposite effect. A Globe editorial says the tools that Mr. Harper created in 2012 with the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act -- most notably the ability of cabinet to override regulatory decisions -- were placed into Justin Trudeau's hands in 2015. First, the Liberals allowed the Northern Gateway pipeline project to die, declining to appeal a court ruling that quashed the 2014 approval by the Harper government. Then the government broadened the review to include greenhouse emissions not just from the pipeline, but from the upstream production of oil and downstream consumption. Unsurprisingly, the Energy East project collapsed. The Carney government has not given up the power of cabinet approval that Mr. Harper created in 2012. So long as the cabinet remains the ultimate arbiter on approving projects, the regulatory process will be, unavoidably, politicized. That was the mistake that Mr. Harper made 14 years ago, and the mistake that Mr. Carney has yet to remedy.