Announcement first step in long process

Opinion

The Government of Canada says it is committed to building a stronger, more competitive and prosperous economy for Canadian workers. With that important objective in mind, Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled his government’s initial group of major “nation-building” projects that will be considered for fast-track approval under the government’s major projects legislation, the “One Canadian Economy Act.”

The five projects announced yesterday are an expansion to the Port of Montreal, the expansion of LNG Canada’s liquefied natural gas plant in British Columbia, a first-of-its kind small modular nuclear reactor in Ontario, a new copper and zinc mine in Saskatchewan, as well as the expansion of a copper mining operation in northwestern B.C.

The government claims that the projects collectively represent an investment of more than $60 billion in the Canadian economy, and are expected to create thousands of good-paying jobs for Canadians for years to come.

Carney emphasizes that the five projects were selected because they have already satisfied many regulatory hurdles and have undertaken extensive engagement with Indigenous Peoples, provincial governments, local authorities, proponents and other stakeholders. In short, they are far closer to being “shovel-ready” that many other large-scale ventures currently under consideration.

From here, the newly created Major Projects Office will work to fast-track the projects by streamlining regulatory assessment and approvals and helping to structure financing, in partnership with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples, and private investors.

As we have discussed previously, the mandate of the MPO is to identify projects that are in Canada’s national interest and accelerate their development via a “one project, one review” approach. It is hoped that approach will reduce the approval timeline to a maximum of two years.

Several other projects have also been identified for future development, including expansion and redevelopment of the Port of Churchill, the Wind West Atlantic Energy project, the Pathways Plus carbon capture facility in Alberta and the Alto High-Speed Rail project that will accelerate passenger rail travel in Quebec and Ontario.

There are also plans under consideration to develop the critical minerals sector and secure more investment in critical minerals projects within the next two years, as well as for all-weather road projects in Northern Canada to support that critical mineral development.

In explaining why those ventures were not selected to be part of the initial group, Carney says they are at an earlier stage and require further development. That makes sense, given the scale, cost and complexity of each of the proposals. And, given those factors, it is important that each of the projects selected have the best chance of success.

That is because Canadian taxpayers simply cannot afford to waste time and billions of dollars on poorly conceived schemes. Given the reckless economic policies of the Trump administration and growing economic instability across the globe, time is of the essence in order to build a stronger, more resilient Canadian economy.

In making his announcement yesterday, Carney said that “At this moment of transformative change, Canada’s new government is focused on delivering major projects to connect our communities, empower Canadian workers and build Canada’s strength. With the first in a series of new projects, we will build big, build now, and build Canada strong.”

That’s lofty language, but we caution the PM to avoid creating unrealistic expectations among Canadians that he cannot satisfy anytime soon.

The reality is that yesterday’s words will not cause shovels to be moving today. To the contrary, the size and scale of the projects selected by the government mean that it could take a number of years for them to be completed and begin contributing to the national economy. The next group of projects, including the Port of Churchill development, could take even longer.

Thursday’s announcement was a good first step toward strengthening Canada’s economy, but it was just that — a first step in what will be a multi-year process. While that process is slowly unfolding, Canadians and their governments at all three levels will be required to do their best to weather the economic turmoil. That is the long-term reality that we should all keep in mind.