Provincial and territorial first ministers came away without a final list of "nation-building" projects to pursue, but still heaped praise on Prime Minister Mark Carney after a meeting in Saskatoon that Ontario Premier Doug Ford described as the "best" they've had in the last decade.
Ford said the premiers, and the whole country along with them, stand united as Canada comes under attack from Donald Trump's economic warfare and annexation threats-even though they continue to disagree on new pipeline development.
When the provincial and territorial leaders sat down with Carney on Monday, they each came armed with wish lists of major projects they hoped the federal government would deem to be in the national interest, then fast track for approval, The Canadian Press reports.
"The point is to build the certainty, the stability, and the ambition that builders need to catalyse enormous investment-investment to make Canada into an energy superpower," Carney told the closing news conference.
Federal legislation to speed up approvals for select projects to a maximum of two years could be tabled as early as this week.
While the group mulled over a number of potential "nation-building" natural resource and infrastructure developments in private, they did not release a final list afterward. When he was pressed on the lack of specifics, Carney told reporters he could name lots of examples of contenders, CP says.
He then rattled off a list that included the Grays Bay Road and Port, which would connect southern Canada to the Kitikmeot Region of the Arctic by road, along with Ring of Fire mining projects in northern Ontario. Notably, he name dropped the Pathways Alliance carbon capture and storage megaproject, though he did not commit to any of them.
Carney said the group would refine what should count as priority projects over the summer months, adding that as "private proponents become aware of the opportunity here, we're going to see more projects coming forward."
He said the upcoming federal legislation will also mandate meaningful consultation with Indigenous peoples, including on which projects get picked and how they are developed.
A statement issued by Carney's office said first ministers "committed to immediately begin to address project approval and permitting efficiency and timelines for all projects. Premiers welcomed the Prime Minister's commitment to ensuring all federal assessment decisions are rendered within two years, beginning with projects of national interest."
The leaders also agreed to "work toward efficiently and effectively implementing 'one project, one review' with the goal of a single assessment for all projects, in a manner that respects federal, provincial, and territorial jurisdiction, enhancing coordination activities on permitting and eliminating duplication. This will help kickstart economic growth and ensure that projects get built in a timely manner."
And they "First Ministers "pledged to fulfil the Crown's duty to consult with Indigenous peoples and discussed ways to strengthen Indigenous ownership and partnerships to provide Indigenous communities with generational economic opportunities."
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith touted the Pathways Alliance project, a $16.5-billion carbon capture hub and pipeline network that six major oil sands companies have been promoting for years, but refusing to launch without massive taxpayer support. Independent analysts have warned the project could be "scuppered" without permanent subsidies and won't break even without efficiency gains and steadier revenue. The technology's biggest boosters admit it won't be ready for prime time before 2035-long after global climate targets will require steep reductions in the oil sands' massive climate footprint.
Smith had gone into the first ministers' meeting warning that any priority project list that doesn't include new pipelines will send a bad message to the separatist forces in her province. She left on a positive note, saying it's up to political leaders to find a proponent for a new pipeline and that she's willing to give this process a chance.
"I'm encouraged by the immediate change of tone that we've seen from recent months," she said. "When we hear the prime minster talking about being an energy superpower, we haven't heard that language for some time."
Carney made a point of specifying that "decarbonized" barrels of oil would be "within the broader context of national interest."
"Yes, there's real potential there," he said. "It took up a good deal of our time in discussions with potential to move forward on that. If further developed, the federal government will look to advance it."
Smith said it would cost $10 to $20 billion to build Pathways, "and to make the economic case for that, having more egress with more barrels to be sold to Asia is going to pay for it," she said. "If we had a million-barrel-a-day pipeline going to the northwest B.C. coast, that would generate about $20 billion a year in revenues, and so that seems like a pretty good value proposition."
But headed into the meeting, B.C. deputy premier Niki Sharma said Smith's proposal for a bitumen pipeline to B.C.'s northern coast, such as by reviving the failed Northern Gateway project, has "no proponent" at this stage.
"We are focusing on these shovel-ready projects, not theoretical projects with no proponents," Sharma said in a statement sent afterward. "There is also an existing, underused pipeline Canadian taxpayers paid $34 billion for, with capacity to spare."
Ford, who serves as this year's chair of the Council of the Federation, said he wasn't concerned that the discussion reached no final conclusion.
"Nothing was carved in stone at this meeting," he said, adding he had no expectations the prime minster would approve specific projects at this meeting.
"I described him today as Santa Claus. He's coming and his sled was full of all sorts of stuff. Now he's taking off back to the North Pole and he's going to sort it out and he's going to call us."
The main body of this report was first published by The Canadian Press on June 2, 2025.
Source: The Energy Mix
