Liberals reveal first five major projects to be considered for fast-tracking, with no pipeline on the list

OTTAWA — Two months after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government passed its major projects legislation, the Liberals announced Thursday the first five proposals that are being considered for fast-tracking, including a liquefied natural gas terminal expansion and two critical mineral mining projects.  

National Post obtained a copy of the first projects the government will send to the recently created Major Projects Office to help finalize necessary approvals.  

All five projects have already made some progress through their respective regulatory processes but have struggled to get over the finish line. The office is tasked with finalizing permitting, coordinating planning with provinces and territories and help complete financing.

There is no pipeline or oil project in the first tranche of projects.

The government will also announce a batch of five other projects it also wants the Major Projects Office to consider in the near future but that aren’t quite where they need to be yet.

Those are the Wind West Atlantic Energy wind power project, the Pathways Plus carbon capture and storage proposal in Alberta, an upgrade to the Port of Churchill in Manitoba, the Alto high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City, as well as unidentified projects involving critical mineral development and developing an economic and security trade corridor in the Arctic.

Speaking at the start of a Liberal caucus meetin g in Edmonton on Wednesday, Carney said this batch of projects aimed to diversify the country’s products and markets.

“Projects that will increase our independence, boost our economy, align with the interests of Indigenous peoples, and advance our climate goals,” he described.

The project aims to double LNG Canada’s production of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Ontario project would create Canada’s (and the Group of 7’s) first small modular reactor, billed as many as the future of nuclear energy production. 

The long-proposed expansion of the Montreal Port in Contrecoeur — about 40 kilometres northeast from Montreal on the St. Lawrence River — promises to expand the key Eastern port’s capacity by 60 per cent.

The mine in East-Central Saskatchewan will exploit copper and zinc, two key critical minerals. It is billed as Canada’s first net-zero copper mining project.

The expansion is expected to expand the copper mine in Northwest B.C.’s lifespan by over 10 years and boost Canadian copper production by over 15 per cent.

More to come.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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