SASKATOON, Sask. — Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson was in Saskatchewan this week amid renewed trade tensions with the United States.
Hodgson was in Regina Tuesday and in Saskatoon for two announcements on Wednesday, with tariff relief and nation-building investments in the mining sector as top priorities.
Speaking to SaskToday Wednesday afternoon, Hodgson said while in Regina, he spent time “meeting with Minister (Chris) Beaudry, my counterpart, and talking about ways we can help Saskatchewan grow and thrive.”
Hodgson said he spent time at “the Jansen Mine, which is, as you know, one of the biggest projects in the country right now. It's a huge new expansion of the potash industry here in Saskatchewan.”
He also spent time at the Saskatchewan Research Council, which “is a world leader in the development of rare earth processing capabilities, just a jewel in Saskatchewan's crown.”
On Wednesday morning, Hodgson said they spent some time with businesses in Saskatoon that were having some challenges with tariffs. There they announced $11.6 million in support for 10 different projects for eight different companies in Saskatoon to “help them pivot and grow in the face of these challenging tariffs.”
That funding is from the Regional Tariff Response Initiative, with a similar funding announcement having taken place earlier this year in Regina.
With the Saskatoon announcement, Hodgson explained some more about how the companies were chosen.
These were “eight examples of businesses that are grabbing the bull by the horns and saying we can't control what the Americans do, but we can control what we do. We're going to grow our business. We're going to pivot our business. We're going to focus more on the Canadian market. We're going to focus more on other markets. And we're going to continue to grow our businesses and employ people here in Saskatchewan.”
One of the recipients was RMD Engineering Inc., the venue where they made their announcement Wednesday. The company is receiving $1 million in funding.
“They're installing new production equipment in their facility. It's going to improve productivity. It's going to allow them to sell more of their products to other markets here in Canada. That's going to take the place of what's hitting them on the U.S. front. And they're doing really innovative new modular building products. We're really excited by what RMD Engineering is doing.”
Another company he pointed to was Drake Meat Processors Inc., a family-owned business in Saskatchewan since 1949 that is receiving $2.2 million for equipment to expand and automate a sausage and beef production line, and $1 million for equipment to expand and automate a cured pork production line.
“They're using the money to purchase new equipment and expand and automate some of their production facilities here in Saskatoon so they can sell more of their product right across the country into all the major food retailing chains across the country. That gives them new opportunities to grow here in Canada. That gives them opportunity to keep Canadians employed when the U.S. is becoming a more difficult market.”
He called these just two of the examples that he found really interesting.
“Entrepreneurs here in Saskatchewan saying, hey, we can control our own destiny. We can pivot and grow. We're going to do that in partnership with the federal government. And I see a lot of that sort of prairie grit happening here as we face a difficult situation with our American neighbours.”
Critical minerals development important, says Hodgson
Later, Hodgson was at an event celebrating the progress of the McIlvenna Bay copper and zinc mine project in northwest Saskatchewan.
That mine project had been one of the initial five projects approved by the new Major Projects Office that had been created by the Carney government following the eruption of tariff tensions with the U.S. last year.
“It's starting up production shortly. It will be the first time in 20 years Saskatchewan's going to be producing copper, and it's doing it in a wonderful way,” Hodgson said.
“It's doing it as the first net-zero copper mine in Canada, and it's doing it in partnership with Indigenous peoples, with the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation being a partner in the project, and I think almost 34 per cent of the workforce is Indigenous. So it's a great example of Saskatchewan growing and Saskatchewan growing in the right way, in an environmentally responsible way, in partnership with our Indigenous peoples.”
Hodgson was happy about the pace of that project and how quickly it will get into production.
“We were here with the management team today, and the CEO said he expects them to be in commercial production, knock on wood, by the end of September. So we've gone from referring that project a year ago to seeing the company hopefully at commercial production at the end of September.”
As for what it meant for Saskatchewan, he said it “means 450 careers created. That means this mine has an expected mine life of 18 years, and the CEO is quite confident they can find more resources to extend that mine life to as much as almost 40 years. And he talked today about potentially beginning work to expand the mine further. So that would mean more jobs here in Saskatchewan and more economic activity, producing copper for the first time in 20 years in Saskatchewan.”
Hodgson called it a “pretty good story, and it's an example of how Saskatchewan can be resilient in this challenging time.”
“We know it's a challenging time for people. We know people are worried about what's going on in the world. We know they're worried about unfair trade wars, and so we're focusing on helping Canadian companies do what they do well, which is build. And when we focus on what we can do here, we can come out of this stronger.”
Hodgson said copper, zinc and critical minerals will be vital for the Canadian economy going forward.
“Right now, as we transition to a greener economy, as we deal with a doubling of the electricity grid that we're going to see over the next little while, as we deal with new technologies, whether it's wind, solar, new batteries, as we deal with EVs, all of these require copper. All of them use more copper. And the world is short of copper. The price of copper has been rising dramatically, and this is an example of Canada taking advantage of that.”
He said the copper is going to be smelted in Canada, so it's a “value-add that's going to be done here. And we're going to export this copper all around the world, making money for Canada.”
He said that will help pay for school programs and help pay for health care in Saskatchewan. Taking advantage of it and building Canada strong when the world is getting more unreliable is how we're going to get through this, he said, and this is a great example of Saskatchewan leading on this front.
As for whether there could be more help on the way from the government to help entrepreneurs in the country, Hodgson said Prime Minister Mark Carney has been “really clear that we have the best trade deal in the world with the U.S. Our goal is to secure and to continue to have the best trade deal in the world with our neighbours to the south.”
“At the same time from day one, plan A has always been when the U.S. wants a different trading relationship with the world, we need to grow other markets. We need to sell more of our products to Canadians. We need to buy more of our own products. And we need to help those businesses that are affected. We need to help those workers who are affected by these unfair tariffs. And we will continue to do that.”
Hodgson said the government will “continue to work on getting the best deal we can.”
“We're not going to do a bad deal. He's been very clear we're not going to do a deal that fundamentally disadvantages our industry. We're not going to do a deal that infringes on our sovereignty. We're going to do deals that are good for Canada.
“At the same time we're going to grow our relationships with other people and we're going to continue to help those affected by these tariffs. So you can count on us to keep looking for ways to support Canadians who are affected by these tariffs.”
