Today's editorial from the far left Globe and Mail.
Mark Carney tries to win the Cup ... after the parade
It’s never good form in any setting to make a grand display of heroically sweeping in at the last moment after everyone else has done all the hard work.
And yet, there was the Mark Carney government doing just that last week with its announcement of the first five major projects that will be considered for fast-track approvals under the Building Canada Act.
In four of the five projects, virtually all the needed federal and provincial permits are in hand, consultations with Indigenous groups have been completed, and much if not all of the financing is in place or on the verge of being announced: LNG Canada Phase 2 in Kitimat, B.C.; four small modular reactors at Ontario’s Darlington Nuclear Generating Station; an expansion of the Port of Montreal in Contrecoeur, Que.; and the Foran McIlvenna Bay copper mine project in Saskatchewan.
In two cases, the Darlington reactors and the Foran copper mine, work is already under way. At Contrecoeur, shovels could go in the ground as soon as the end of this month.
Only the expansion of the Red Chris copper mine in B.C., which has already been fast-tracked for approvals by the province, might need an additional hand from Ottawa.
The Carney government has cherry-picked projects that would almost certainly have proceeded without 11th-hour support from the Major Projects Office, the body it created to accelerate regulatory approvals and co-ordinate financing for proposals deemed to be in the national interest – and which at this early stage is little more than a chief executive, an Indigenous advisory council and an office space in Calgary.
“The first projects have achieved many regulatory milestones and have undertaken extensive engagement with Indigenous peoples, provincial governments, local authorities, proponents and other stakeholders,” a government spokesperson told The Globe and Mail. “For these first projects, the work of the Major Projects Office will be to close final regulatory and permitting gaps, co-ordinate with provinces and territories, and ensure financing plans can be achieved.”
Energy Minister Tim Hodgson resorted to a football analogy to defend the government’s strategy. “You’ve got to execute and punch the ball into the end zone,” he said – as if the team that drove the ball downfield for 109 gruelling yards wasn’t up to the task.
Improving on the analogy, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre compared Mr. Carney’s announcement to “picking up the football in the end zone to spike it.”
The government’s announcement last week listed other proposals that might be sent to the Major Projects Office – things such as high-speed rail between Toronto and Quebec City; upgrading the Port of Churchill on Hudson’s Bay; carbon capture in Alberta; and all manner of roads, rail and ports to get Canada’s resources to new markets.
Those are projects still in the conceptual stage. The announcement of the first five, well along in their gestation, seems designed to justify the existence of the Major Projects Office, and to leave the impression the government has generated some momentum behind its election promise to get things built quickly.
Maybe the Major Projects Office will actually be of use. Perhaps proponents of selected projects will benefit from a so-called “single window” for help in getting permits and financing. Perhaps companies will be more apt to invest in the expensive approvals process if they know their particular project has Ottawa’s blessing.
But what happens to projects not lucky enough to be touched on the forehead by the sacred hand of a technocratic Liberal government?
Only in Canada (and probably only when the Liberals are in power) would the federal government create a new bureaucracy designed to navigate an existing bloated bureaucracy on behalf of projects deemed by politicians to merit the special attention.
It would be far more sensible, sustainable and practical to instead reduce the regulatory and fiscal burdens that discourage investment and innovation in Canada, thereby letting the private sector decide which projects are worthwhile.
To use the government’s own words from its announcement, Canada needs ”clear and predictable regulatory pathways to attract global capital, accelerate innovation and encourage domestic investment.”
Judging by its debut, the Major Projects Office is not that. Not by a long shot. |
