Everyone except the NDP wants to build the Ring of Fire

The new leader of the federal Liberal party has announced a sweeping overhaul of project permitting rules, vowing to eliminate federal duplication for major mining and infrastructure developments.

"We will eliminate federal duplicative requirements by recognizing provincial assessments for major projects, the so-called mutual recognition," said Mark Carney Friday to reporters in Ottawa. "So, one project, one review, and we will work with the provinces and other stakeholders, Indigenous groups, to identify projects of national significance and accelerate the time frame to build them."

The Cedar LNG project near Kitimat, British Columbia, is expected to lead the charge under the new streamlined process. Backed by the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline Corp., the Indigenous-led liquefied natural gas terminal is valued at $5.8 billion. The revitalization of the Churchill port on Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba, with an $80 million price tag, was also flagged for fast-tracking.

Carney also hinted that Ontario’s Ring of Fire critical minerals zone could be a future candidate for accelerated approval. Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has made a similar promise, pledging this week to greenlight Ring of Fire within six months if elected.

The new policy appears to be part of Carney’s emerging economic platform, with a federal election expected to be called as early as Sunday.

Earlier Friday, Carney scrapped a planned capital gains tax hike from 50% to 66%. That follows last week’s cancellation of the federal consumer carbon tax, echoing positions taken by Poilievre.

Carney also unveiled a First Mile fund designed to unlock stranded mineral and energy projects. The fund will focus on connecting isolated projects to existing infrastructure like roads and rail.

"In other words, if you think of a critical minerals project or something that’s away from an existing network, linking them in can be decisive on the economics and whether they get built," said Carney. "It’s time to build now."

Another northern megaproject being considered is the Grays Bay Road and Port initiative in western Nunavut. Championed by the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, the proposal would connect the resource-rich Slave Geological Province to a deepwater port via an all-season road.

Those projects would complement previously announced initiatives including high-speed rail between Quebec and Ontario, a regional electricity grid for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and potential upgrades to the Port of Montreal and Vancouver’s Second Narrows bottleneck.

Carney also outlined the creation of the Large Enterprise Economic and National Security Facility (LEENSF), a new federal fund aimed at bolstering regional development agencies with liquidity support. Details on the fund’s size and eligible projects remain under wraps.

Canada’s premiers and Carney also agreed to develop a National Trade and Energy Corridor strategy to boost transport, energy, digital infrastructure and critical minerals. As part of that pact, all inter-provincial trade barriers are to be removed by July 1, which could generate an estimated $250 billion a year in economic activity.

"The spirit of what we’re doing as First Ministers, and what we’re doing as the federal government is creating a framework so that the private sector will be building these projects," said Carney. "Moving quickly on approvals, in other words, not duplicating approvals, we can create an environment where the taxpayers’ money is not at risk."

By Kevin Vincent, Senior Contributing Editor to Mining Life Online and Mining Life & Exploration News.

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