The federal government can help Canada’s struggling oil and gas industry by killing Bill C-69, NuVista Energy Ltd.’s chief executive says.

“It either needs to be completely killed or radically changed,” NuVista (NVA.TO) CEO Jonathan Wright told BNN Bloomberg Wednesday, referring to the bill that introduces new timelines and steps that need to be taken before infrastructure projects can go ahead. “It can be a positive bill, but it needs radical changes [so] that these critical infrastructure projects get built.”

Bill C-69 is currently under consideration in the Senate, and would create a new Impact Assessment Agency, replace the National Energy Board with the Canadian Energy Regulator, and allow a greater number of intervenors in regulatory hearings.

Wright’s comments echo recent sentiments from Canoe Financial chairman W. Brett Wilson, who told BNN Bloomberg Friday that he’s “terrified” by the bill, calling it “lunacy.”

Still, Wright said he is optimistic that Canada can use crude-by-rail and will eventually clear its pipeline backlog to pave the way for a recovery in Western Canadian Select crude prices that have dipped below US$20.

“There will be crude-by-rail, it’s already coming. There are already commitments there. It takes months, maybe some quarters, to make that happen,” he said, expressing optimism that Enbridge Inc.’s (ENB.TO) Line 3 and TransCanada Corp.’s (TRP.TO) Keystone XL pipelines will both still be completed.

Wright is not the only one urging government officials to take action to help the energy sector. Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) CEO Alex Pourbaix has been calling on Alberta to cap production, telling BNN Bloomberg earlier on Wednesday that the “government needs to step in to avoid economic catastrophe.”

“In the short-term? Sure. A little bit of shut-in is perhaps needed,” Wright said, before turning to pipelines as the long-term fix.

“That’s the long-term solution: Get these pipelines in place, Canada thrives.”