Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he will be pushing for a 'port-to-port' energy corridor at the upcoming meeting.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says Prime Minister Mark Carney has an unprecedented opportunity to fix Canada’s approvals process for major infrastructure projects, as the Prime Minister is set to meet with premiers next week to outline his plan to fast-track nation-building initiatives.
Mr. Moe, whose province is hosting the First Ministers’ meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, said he’ll be pushing the federal government to support a “port-to-port” energy corridor to connect provincial resources to Asian and European markets and diversify away from United States.
He said next week’s meeting is a chance for Ottawa to signal to industries and provinces that the federal government intends to strengthen Canada’s economy, particularly in speeding up approvals for major projects.
“There is a great opportunity here for Prime Minister Carney and what I hope is a renewed vision of the federal government,” Mr. Moe said in an interview on Thursday.
“I don’t know that Canada has ever been presented such a tremendous opportunity, and it will be on this Prime Minister and the federal government to see whether they take it.”
Mr. Carney is set to present provincial and territorial premiers next week with the broad outlines of legislation that will impose a two-year approval process for major nation-building projects such as ports, critical mineral mines and trade corridors.
Western premiers push for trade corridor to help Canadian goods reach Asian markets
The legislation contains measures to fast-track significant infrastructure projects through upfront regulatory approvals and includes a framework to remove all federal barriers to interprovincial trade, according to a document provided to The Globe and Mail.
Mr. Moe said the plan is an admission that the current regulatory system is not working.
“We’re going to support the federal government in the efforts to not only shorten the regulatory period – not reduce the regulatory requirements – but shorten the regulatory time frame that it takes to get a project to fruition or to production, and do our level best to provide input,“ he said in an interview.
“We hope that that’s one of the significant changes with a new Prime Minister, is that they’d actually work with industries and provinces.”
He added that all levels of government “need to put maybe a little bit of water in our wine” with respect to some differences on energy production and should develop projects that will benefit the whole country.
The Western premiers, along with leaders of the northern territories, recently met in Yellowknife and agreed to identify, plan and develop new economic corridors to connect provincial resources to international markets.
The premiers called on Mr. Carney for support, specifically in connecting ports on the West Coast to the coast of Hudson Bay.
Opinion: Scott Moe must repair Saskatchewan’s relationship with Ottawa
Mr. Moe also said he understands the sentiment of some Albertans who feel disillusioned by the federal government, prompting talk of separation.
“That discussion is not just happening in Alberta,” he said.
While he said he doesn’t agree with any province separating from Canada, he said Mr. Carney has the opportunity to tackle Western alienation by addressing some of the policy demands of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
“If the Prime Minister moves in a very determined fashion on those policies, I think the opportunity that not only we have in Western Canada but we have as a nation in Canada is unlike anything that I’ve seen in my lifetime,” Mr. Moe said.
Ms. Smith has asked for “a clear commitment” from Ottawa to work with Alberta to build an oil pipeline to the northwest B.C. coast as well as repealing the emissions cap, Bill C-69 (an environmental review law that opponents have dubbed the No More Pipelines Act), the West Coast tanker ban and the net-zero electricity regulations.
B.C. Premier David Eby, however, has said the revival of the Northern Gateway pipeline project – which would have connected Alberta oil to the northern coast of British Columbia – and the cancelling of the B.C. north coast tanker ban are premature.