Amid roaring wildfires on the prairies and U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, Canada’s premiers met with Prime Minister Mark Carney for the first time since Carney was elected.
“Nation-building projects” like highways, railways, energy and electricity projects took up a good chunk of their discussion, Carney told press conference attendees following two days of meetings on June 1-2 in Saskatoon, Sask.
As reported in the national media, premiers had submitted their project wish lists to Carney.
Premier Ranj Pillai told the News by phone from his office on June 3 that his top ask is for a Yukon-B.C. grid connection.
While he didn’t voice opposition to any of the other premiers’ project pitches, Pillai has been trumpeting tying the Yukon to North America’s energy grid via British Columbia as a project that’s in the best interest of the country. The northern territory and the southern province recently signed a memorandum of understanding on the project.
“We made the cut,” Pillai said.
Pillai indicated he feels support for projects the northern premiers have put forward given the focus on Arctic security. He suggested the electricity transmission initiative meets Carney’s criteria for projects in the national interest.
“My sense from Canada is they're ready to make those investments that are required to ensure that we can catch up on the infrastructure gaps that we see in the North versus southern Canada,” Pillai said during the News’ interview.
“But also, that we work very hard with European partners, and not just American partners, to have the infrastructure required across the North and the Arctic to ensure that we can assert sovereignty in the most optimal way.”
In Pillai's eyes, those gaps include the Yukon-B.C. grid connection and a road from Yellowknife to the Port of Grays Bay, dubbed the Arctic Security Corridor. Northern premiers agree that the latter project is a priority, per Pillai. He said Carney has echoed that sentiment.
For Pillai, the focus of the first ministers’ meeting involved showing support for each other's projects and building a stronger, more competitive, resilient country. Pillai said Carney and the premiers covered plenty of ground, including touching on bail reform.
Pillai’s sense is that the feds share his concerns on that front.
“We hope to see new, some legislation very quickly, coming from the federal government,” he said.
During the press conference, Carney said the federal government’s goal is to eliminate internal trade and labour mobility barriers, and work with the provinces, territories and Indigenous people to identify projects that are in the national interest. He added those projects should contribute to bolstering Canada’s economy, autonomy and security and having “undeniable benefits” to the country. They must also have a “high likelihood” of being executed and be a priority for Indigenous leaders.
Carney said Canada will work towards “one project, one review.” Meaningful consultation with Indigenous people will also be required under upcoming federal legislation, per the prime minister.
“Once a project is designated as being in the country's national interest, a new federal major project office will bring together all relevant federal departments to provide a single set of conditions that must be met for those projects to advance and the commitment is to proceed with the process, approval process, for a maximum of two years under a new, streamlined process that prioritizes federal resources to these most important projects,” he said.
Carney reiterated he wants to make Canada an “energy superpower.”
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office following the meeting notes premiers talked about spending on dual-use infrastructure, for civilian and military use, in northern and Arctic communities, and working quickly to improve Canada’s defence abilities.
“First Ministers also agreed to build cleaner and more affordable electricity systems to reduce emissions and increase reliability toward achieving net zero by 2050,” reads the prime minister’s statement.
At the press conference, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said it was the best meeting in 10 years, with great communication and collaboration that united the leaders around the table.
Ford compared Carney to Santa Claus.
“He's coming, and his sled was full of all sorts of stuff,” Ford said.
“Now he's taken off back to the North Pole. He's going to sort it out, and then he's going to call us."
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
