Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Terrace, B.C., Thursday to announce the next batch of major projects the government is submitting for possible fast-track approval.
Multiple sources have told The Canadian Press the Crawford nickel mine in northern Ontario will be among the projects Carney announces he is forwarding to the new Major Projects Office.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday he was pleased to hear the project was among those selected, but lamented the lack of progress on other projects.
"Let's get out of our way when it comes to the Ring of Fire," Ford said, referring to planned mining projects in northern Ontario.
"We need to be talking about large-scale nuclear, and I don't know if we're going to hear about that but that's a key area we need investment on."
The federal government is also expected to announce a hydroelectric project in Iqaluit will be up for possible fast-track approval, according to a source with knowledge of the government's plans.
The project, which already has received millions in federal funding for engineering and design, is being promoted as a means to help Nunavut's capital wean itself off its reliance on its diesel power plant.
The Canadian Press is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the details of the announcement.
CBC News reported Tuesday other projects set to be announced include the Sisson Mine in New Brunswick, the Nouveau Monde Graphite Phase 2 project in Quebec, and the Ksi Lisims liquefied natural gas project, near where Carney is making his announcement.
The Ksi Lisims project is expected to produce 12 million tonnes of LNG per year destined for markets in Asia, where demand for LNG continues to grow.
Carney announced the first five projects the government was submitting for fast-track consideration two months ago. Conservatives called the projects on the first list “low hanging fruit” because their development was already well underway.
That list included a port expansion in Montreal, a small modular nuclear plant in Ontario, a liquefied natural gas facility expansion in British Columbia and two mining projects in Saskatchewan and B.C.
Appearing before the House of Commons standing committee on environment and sustainable development last month, Major Projects Office CEO Dawn Farrell told MPs the stage at which a particular project sits will be one of the factors considered when it is reviewed.
“One of the challenges I think we’ll face is that many of these projects are not what I call ready for prime time. They’re way far off in the future, or they’re much further down the road in terms of their execution,” she told the committee.
“We want to make sure we have projects that are also executable in a shorter time frame.”
So far, no project has received the national interest designation, which would give it special treatment — such as exemptions from certain environmental laws — to help it move forward. Those include the Fisheries Act, the Species At Risk Act and the Impact Assessment Act.
Once a project is referred to the Major Projects Office, it is reviewed and returned with recommendations to the government, which has the final say on whether to give it the national interest designation.
Establishing the Major Projects Office was one of Carney’s first moves after winning the general election earlier this year.
The federal budget tabled last week proposes to spend $213.8 million over five years for the office. The government also plans legislation to make the office a separate entity — like a Crown corporation — rather than leaving it under the authority of the Privy Council Office.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray
