There was cautious optimism in the air as provincial and territorial premiers began arriving in Saskatoon to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The first ministers are meeting on Monday, and Carney has said he wants to hear provincial ideas for “nation-building projects.” The premiers and other stakeholders joined Carney for a reception on Sunday night, and the tone ahead of the event seemed fairly optimistic.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith — who has been pushing for Ottawa to meet a number of her government’s conditions to move projects forward — met with Carney during the Sunday night event.
“I’m looking forward to finding some common ground. We had a couple nice texts and a couple of nice phone calls, and I think that there’s a spirit of collaboration,” Smith said on her way into the reception.
The Alberta premier had sent a letter to Carney in mid-May, saying there are several preconditions necessary to make his nation-building ambitions a success: Include an oil pipeline on the initial list of nation-building projects, abandon the “unconstitutional” oil and gas emissions cap, overhaul the Impact Assessment Act and repeal Canada’s industrial carbon tax, as well as clean electricity regulations.
Quebec has historically been opposed to pipeline projects in its jurisdiction. But Premier François Legault has recently opened the door to pipeline development in the province, saying Quebecers recognize the importance of reducing the country’s dependence on energy exports to the United States.
“If there’s a project, we’re ready to look at it, if it goes through Quebec territory. But we’ll need to have economic impact — positive ones — for Quebec,” Legault said Sunday evening.
Carney told CBC News Network’s Power & Politics last week that he’s seeking to have projects compete for federal approval, with the best ideas winning out.
“In effect, we’re going to have a competition with projects. Some projects are good ideas, but they’re not ready. Others are ready, but they’re bad ideas,” he told host David Cochrane.
What types of ‘nation-building’ projects do provinces want to see?
When asked by reporters about his expectations for Monday’s meeting, Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson said he was a little worried about smaller provinces getting overlooked.
“The Northwest Territories, and the North in general, has not received a lot of infrastructure investment over the past number of years,” Simpson said. “But there’s been a lot of attention on the North this past year — even the last six months. So I’m hopeful that’s going to result in some major infrastructure investments.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he hopes Monday’s meeting is less about certain projects winning out over others and that the focus remains on pursuing projects that benefit Canada as a whole.
“I think we’re here for a message of unity, making sure we do the right things for all of Canada — not just parts of Canada,” he said.
