Prime Minister Mark Carney, centre, speaks after a meeting of the federal cabinet in May. Mr. Carney is meeting with his caucus in Edmonton ahead of Parliament's return.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney laid out a busy fall agenda for his government, beginning with an announcement set for Thursday on the first batch of “nation-building” projects, as the Liberals try to hold onto the momentum that won them the spring election.
Mr. Carney told MPs at a caucus meeting in Edmonton on Wednesday that on top of the major-projects announcement, the government will next week unveil the new agency focused on spurring home construction, and later in the fall, a new strategy on climate competitiveness, bail legislation and a budget that will cut government spending.
Mr. Carney said the measures build on steps the Liberals have already taken since being returned with a minority government in April to respond to the way the U.S. has changed the global economy.
“We’re over the shock, but we should never forget the lessons. We have to look out for ourselves and we have to take care of each other,” he said in his opening remarks to the meeting. The media were invited in to hear his speech and then were asked to leave the room for the balance of the discussions.
His commitments follow a summer of failed efforts to secure a new trade pact with the United States and increasing pressure from provincial premiers and the opposition Conservatives to take concrete steps to jolt the economy.
Liberal MPs at the meeting expressed enthusiasm for Mr. Carney’s pronouncements, saying Canadians elected their government because of its promise to move fast.
“I think we’re working at lightning speed. I really think so,” Yvan Baker, who represents the Ontario riding of Etobicoke Centre, told reporters midway through the day.
Mr. Carney, and members of his government, did not share any details on which projects will be part of the first tranche announced as part of Bill C-5, a law that gives the government power to fast-track projects through existing regulatory processes if they meet certain criteria.
The projects will “increase Canada’s independence, boost our economy, align with the interests of Indigenous peoples and advance our climate goals,” he told MPs.
Later Wednesday, Mr. Carney had a scheduled meeting with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who has made clear that she’d like to see a new oil pipeline as an approved project.
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Speaking to reporters at an unrelated announcement earlier in the day, Ms. Smith did not appear concerned by reports that there will be no pipeline in the first round.
“Don’t think that the list as it appears is the final list,” she said, adding that the Carney government must also repeal a range of existing laws that hamper the potential for any company to pitch a new pipeline.
Mr. Carney also appeared on the Real Talk podcast with host Ryan Jespersen in Edmonton earlier in the day, saying more major projects will be announced this fall.
Late last month during a news conference in Berlin, Mr. Carney had said initial projects could include reinforcing and building on the Port of Montreal, Contrecoeur and what could effectively be a new port in Churchill, Man.
Indigenous leaders have expressed concerns that the major projects could do an end run around their rights, while environmental groups worry that the approach will circumvent environmental protections.
Some Liberal MPs also expressed concern Thursday that the Carney government is heading toward an “inflection point” where its commitment to climate change will be questioned.
If the government is going to walk back some measures – such as the consumer price on carbon – it will have to increase others, said Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith, to be taken seriously on climate change.
“It really depends on what the totality of a comprehensive set of measures is,” he said.
The Globe and Mail reported last week that there is a draft list of 32 projects circulating inside the federal government of potential projects that could be designated for fast-track approvals under Bill C-5.
The major-projects draft list includes 14 energy-related projects, including LNG Canada Phase 2, which would expand the liquefied natural gas facility in Kitimat, B.C.; Ksi Lisims LNG, backed by the Nisga’a Nation, and a plan to build new small modular reactors at Ontario’s existing Darlington Nuclear Generating Station.