Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday announced a second batch of major projects the government is submitting for possible fast-track approval.
The projects will be forwarded to the Major Projects Office, a new federal agency created by the Carney government in August, for a review.
“Each of these projects that we are referring to the MPO today is transformational, and their impacts will be amplified by being part of bigger national strategies to boost Canada’s competitiveness,” Carney said.
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Carney to add LNG, hydro, nickel projects to fast-track list
The new list of projects includes the Crawford Nickel Project in Ontario and the Iqaluit Nukkiksautiit Hydro Project.
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The Iqaluit hydroelectric project, which already has received millions in federal funding for engineering and design, is being promoted as a means to help Nunavut’s capital wean itself off its reliance on its diesel power plant.
The other projects announced include the Sisson Mine in New Brunswick, the Nouveau Monde Graphite Phase 2 project in Quebec, and the Ksi Lisims liquefied natural gas project, near where Carney made his announcement Thursday.
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The Ksi Lisims project is expected to produce 12 million tonnes of LNG per year destined for markets in Asia, where demand for LNG continues to grow.
“We are home to the world’s fourth largest reserves of natural gas, and we have the potential to supply 100 million tonnes annually of new LNG exports to Asia,” Carney said.
Carney announced the first five projects the government was submitting for fast-track consideration two months ago. Conservatives had called the projects on the first list “low hanging fruit” because their development was already well underway.
That list included a Montreal port expansion, a small modular nuclear plant in Ontario, a liquefied natural gas facility expansion in British Columbia and two mining projects in Saskatchewan and B.C.
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Carney in B.C. to announce next round of major projects
Appearing before the House of Commons standing committee on environment and sustainable development last month, Major Projects Office CEO Dawn Farrell told MPs the stage at which a particular project sits will be one of the factors considered when it is reviewed.
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“One of the challenges I think we’ll face is that many of these projects are not what I call ready for prime time. They’re way far off in the future, or they’re much further down the road in terms of their execution,” she told the committee.
“We want to make sure we have projects that are also executable in a shorter time frame.”
So far, no project has received the national interest designation, which would give it special treatment — such as exemptions from certain environmental laws — to help it move forward. Those include the Fisheries Act, the Species At Risk Act and the Impact Assessment Act.
Once a project is referred to the Major Projects Office, it is reviewed and returned with recommendations to the government, which has the final say on whether to give it the national interest designation.
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Establishing the Major Projects Office was one of Carney’s first moves after winning the federal election earlier this year.
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The federal budget tabled last week proposes to spend $213.8 million over five years for the office. The government also plans legislation to make the office a separate entity — like a Crown corporation — rather than leaving it under the authority of the Privy Council Office.
–with files from Canadian Press
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