LILLEY: First ministers meeting chance for Carney to turn page on Trudeau era

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The meeting Monday in Saskatoon between the prime minister and premiers is Mark Carney’s first big test since being elected. He promised a new tone, a new relationship, to get big projects moving fast and now it is time for him to deliver.

The symbolism of the meeting taking place in Saskatoon at a time of western alienation and substantial wildfires across Saskatchewan and Manitoba shouldn’t be lost on anyone. What Carney needs to bring to this meeting, though, and what premiers need to leave with are concrete actions or the promise thereof.

Premiers have sent their wants, needs and — in some cases — demands to Carney ahead of time.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is asking for icebreakers and expanded shipping and port facilities along Hudson’s Bay. Nova Scotia’s Tim Houston wants support for an offshore wind project that he said could see electricity sent West to the rest of the country.

Ontario’s Doug Ford has asked for the federal government to help him fast-track projects such as the Ring of Fire mining project, believed to be filled with critical minerals, and his plan to build a tunnel under Hwy. 401, the busiest road in the country. Alberta’s Danielle Smith is asking Carney and his government to rescind Bill C-69, the West Coast tanker ban and the plan for an emissions cap on oil and gas that the province said amounts to a production cap.

We could see some movement and perhaps some promises or expressions of intent on some of these proposals, but Smith’s demands on reversing course on key legislation is a non-starter, according to the government.

That said, a leaked document from the Privy Council Office shows the Carney Liberals are willing to go around C-69 for specific projects. Bill C-69, dubbed the “no more pipelines bill,” is officially known as the Impact Assessment Act and is opposed by every provincial government because of its impact on oil and gas, forestry, mining and basically any other natural resource development.

The document from the PCO shows the government is willing to bend the rules for projects deemed to be in the national interest.

“Once a project is determined to be in the national interest, federal reviews will shift from ‘whether’ to build these projects to ‘how’ to best advance them. It will streamline multiple decision points for federal approval and minimize the risk of not securing project approval following extensive project work,” the document says.

This proposal and Carney’s response to the requests from provincial governments are expected to be revealed Monday to premiers. One of the promises that Carney has been making is to move to a single environment assessment process rather than duplicating — or at times competing — federal and provincial assessments.

“Once determined to be in the national interest, a project would be prioritized and benefit from a seamless single point of contact — the major federal projects office,” the federal document says

“This will include co-ordinating Crown consultation processes and ensuring federal resources are prioritized to the most important projects.”

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The question will be whether this is enough not only for Smith — and to a degree Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe — but for the other premiers as well. Allowing some projects to skirt C-69 or get federal approval for fast-tracking but not others could cause further tension.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, responding to news of the moves by the Carney government, said that while he welcomes projects going forward, this plan doesn’t go far enough.

“Even if the government decides to circumvent C-69 on individual projects, there will be dozens of other projects that we might not even know about. Because investors will not come forward as long as they risk having to face the worst approval system in the world,” he said.

He’s right: This truly will be the government choosing winners and losers, which rarely ends well.

Still, it’s an improvement over the Trudeau government’s stance, which is what Carney is being measured against these days.