Dawn Farrell, who was the CEO of Trans Mountain before transitioning to board chair in 2024, oversaw the completion of the Tran Mountain pipeline.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
Prime Minister Mark Carney has tapped Dawn Farrell, a veteran energy industry executive and former head of Trans Mountain Corp., to lead a new office responsible for fast-tracking infrastructure projects of national interest.
The Prime Minister’s Office announced on Friday that Ms. Farrell, who oversaw the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, will serve as the chief executive officer of the major projects office, which will be headquartered in Calgary.
The office’s mandate is to “serve as a single point of contact” to get projects built faster, according to a news release.
“It will do so in two principal ways. First, by streamlining and accelerating regulatory approval processes. Second, by helping to structure and co-ordinate financing of these projects as needed,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Ms. Farrell’s appointment has been well-received by members of the business community, who praise her breadth of experience in the energy sector and track record for getting difficult projects completed.
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Now she faces a new challenge: Getting so-called nation-building projects approved faster while navigating relationships with Indigenous and environmental groups who have been critical of the federal government’s new approach.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Ms. Farrell has had a “distinguished career” in both conventional and renewable energy.
“Some people will reduce it to one particular sector of the Alberta economy, but she had a lot of experience at BC Hydro, which has a much different energy mix than simply conventional oil,” he said.
Ms. Farrell was the president and chief executive officer of Trans Mountain, before transitioning to board chair in 2024. She’s held a number of other executive positions in the energy sector, including at power producer TransAlta Corp, where she spent 35 years.
“She is someone who has proven to be able to navigate some very challenging issues and projects, and the Trans Mountain project stands as a testament to her fortitude,” said Deborah Yedlin, president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
Goldy Hyder, chief executive of the Business Council of Canada, described Ms. Farrell as a “no-nonsense” kind of leader that gets the job done.
“Our business community, [and] Canadians more broadly, should be appreciating that someone of this calibre, capability and experience, is leaning in to serve the public at a time where it’s most needed,” he said.
Ms. Yedlin said opening the office in Calgary also sends “a signal that the government recognizes the importance of resource development of the energy sector and Canada’s economic future.”
Ms. Farrell forged her reputation as a decisive leader by guiding TransAlta through a financial crisis triggered by the Alberta government’s 2015 decision to rapidly phase out coal-fuelled power plants.
A year after Ms. Farrell retired from TransAlta, former prime minister Justin Trudeau recruited the then-61-year-old in 2021 to finish construction on the expansion of the government-owned Trans Mountain pipeline.
Then-Prime Minister Trudeau, centre, meets with energy industry leaders, Steve Williams, left, of Suncor, and Dawn Farrell in Calgary, Alta., in 2018.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
At the time, the $34-billion project was massively over budget, largely due to COVID-19 pandemic-related costs. Ms. Farrell got the job done, working closely with Indigenous groups to win general acceptance of a pipeline that crossed numerous First Nations and of trench digging that unearthed 80,000 artifacts.
Ms. Farrell, a Calgary native, has strong ties to both Indigenous leaders and the tight-knit group of engineers and financiers who run the oil patch. She served for two years as a director of the country’s largest energy producer, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., alongside billionaire executive chair Murray Edwards.
Mr. Carney vowed during the federal election campaign to get the country back in the business of building big things. He promised his government would approve major resource and infrastructure projects of national interest in two years, and earmark $5-billion for a new trade diversification corridor fund.
Mr. Carney’s focus on getting projects built faster was in part a response to the threat U.S. tariffs posed for Canadian businesses and workers.
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Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the economy shrank at an annualized rate of 1.6 per cent during the second quarter, as exports plummeted.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the government will announce the first set of projects in the coming weeks.
The major project’s office will also be involved in streamlining projects that don’t get a national interest designation. Mr. LeBlanc said the government plans to lean on the expertise of the office to move forward on the campaign promise, “one project, one review.”
Mr. LeBlanc said the government has an agreement with British Columbia on conducting one review per project, and is hoping to reach deals with other provinces this fall.
“In getting these agreements with other provinces, right there, we have taken a step to expedite projects that aren’t just designated,” he said.
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Mr. Carney said on Tuesday that his government will make investment announcements related to building new infrastructure for ports, including those at Churchill, Man.; the Port of Montreal in Contrecoeur, Que.; and on the East Coast.
The federal government faced significant pushback over its effort to rush legislation through Parliament in June that would enable the creation of the major projects office.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, criticized the launch of the new office on Friday.
“The messaging from the Prime Minister has felt less like an invitation to partnership and more like an ultimatum: get on board or get out of the way,” he said in a statement.
The federal government has promised to set up an Indigenous Advisory Council, which will counsel the major project’s office to ensure that Indigenous perspectives are taken into account throughout the project review process. The government will announce the Council’s membership next month, the Prime Minister’s office said Friday.
Meanwhile, opposition parties seized on the Trans Mountain pipeline’s budgetary issues to criticize Friday’s announcement, although the project’s costs began soaring before Ms. Farrell’s time at the corporation.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was critical of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project Friday, noting that the Liberal government went 300 per cent over budget and years past the deadline.
NDP MP Leah Gazan bashed the appointment of Ms. Farrell in a post on X.
“Let’s get this straight, the big oil CEO gouging Canadians for the bungled Trans Mountain pipeline is the best person to lead projects of ‘national interest’? When will the Liberals wake up and stop dumping money into the black hole of resource extraction during a climate crisis?” she said.
With a report from Emily Haws