REGINA, Sask. — Trade negotiations between Canada and the United States remain stalled as Parliament considers legislation affecting major projects and labour disputes. Prime Minister Mark Carney discusses the Pacific Link pipeline, investment, and oilsands development in an exclusive interview with Jon Tupper.
Podcasts are available now on GX94, Yorkton, or on 620 CKRM, Regina, hosted by Steven Wilson. Or read the transcript below:
Craig Reed — Welcome to Trade Dispute: Impact on the Prairies. I'm Craig Reed. Trade talks between Canada and the United States remain in limbo, with trade negotiators on both sides of the border in a holding pattern.
As parliament resumed on Monday, debate resumed on Bill C-2 39, aimed at helping to speed along projects of national interest, while also making changes regarding when the jobs minister can intervene in labour disputes to limit work stoppages.
Labour groups, including the Canadian Labour Congress and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, are pledging to fight back against the bill if it is not amended, while members of the business community says it doesn't go far enough to limit job action.
Meanwhile, the opposition conservatives are imploring the government to extend the fuel excise tax exemption until at least July 1st of next year, and the Tories have also put a notice on motion plan to push the government to use emergency permits and tax relief for refining to produce a million barrels of diesel fuel per day in order to deal with high diesel prices. The Tories also want the government to get ready for potential fuel shortages in the future by establishing a strategic energy reserve to stockpile fuel if prices are to skyrocket again.
Shifting gears, last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith were in Fort McMurray, Alta., on Thursday to unveil the Pacific Link pipeline project, which would extend from Alberta to the B.C. coast, as the first project of national interest under the Prime Minister's Building Canada Act. While in Fort McMurray to promote the announcement, the Prime Minister made a stop at our Harvard media studio there, where he sat down for an exclusive one on one conversation with Harvard Media's Jon Tupper, where he discussed the Pacific Link project. He also took time to address foreign investment and Canada's energy industry, including opportunities for the uranium industry in both Saskatchewan and Alberta. When it comes to projects like the Pacific Link. Carney said that ultimately, if Canadians want something built, Canada will get it built.
Jon Tupper — And you know, you absolutely see that reflected on Bay Street over the last couple of months with the energy stocks from the oilsands, from pipelines and so I'll make one other point, let's go in Bay Street.
Prime Minister Mark Carney — We had a couple of weeks ago, we had the world's largest investors come to Canada, the controlling over $100 trillion of capital. It's such a big number , you can't wrap your mind around it. Huge interest in a wide range of things we're doing, from clean energy to logistics to the future of technology to energy, lke this. One of the things that happened in parallel to that is Canadian capital, the Canadian banks, the Canadian pension funds, the Canadians put up more than $400 billion of their own money to build in Canada. So what's happening is the world's coming. Canadians are focusing back in in Canada. And I'll be candid with you, over the course of the last number of years, Canadian banks and pension funds were as much looking outside our country, in fact, more looking outside our country and investing in assets outside of Canada. That money is coming back home. It's going to create great jobs for Canadians. A very clear pathway to a stronger Canada, a stronger Alberta, more independent country. We're going to diversify our trading partners. Everybody in the world wants to do more with Canada. And so now we're going to step up and take advantage of it.
Jon Tupper — That's fantastic. And during your announcement you did mention the pathways project for carbon capture. But I want to talk about the other thing that's necessary to happen in concert with this pipeline, which is an expansion of production from the oilsands. Now, you've rolled in-situ oilsands projects back under the jurisdiction of the province recently, I believe. And I wanted to ask you about, you know, traditional mining assets that are existing. Would you? I know Suncor, in 2004, applied for an expansion of their base plant so that their mining assets, their crackers, their cookers and so on can still be utilized with mining feedstock. Do you see that as a possibility again?
Prime Minister Mark Carney — It is a possibility. And you know, we have with Alberta what's called a regulatory cooperation agreement, so where Alberta can make the decision, we don't duplicate the decisions and vice versa where we have jurisdiction and expertise will take those decisions.
What we have done as well, and let me say this part of the consultation for this, I think, is going to address some of the longer standing issues with the oilsands around effluents and where are we going to go on that? What are the regulations going to be? It's a shared jurisdiction, as you know, partly the province, but partly because of the water aspect, the federal government. So here's a chance to move forward, move forward in partnership with local communities, with Indigenous communities, and get this right in parallel.
Last point, if I may, which one of the things we've done, which applies to the oilsands here, to the pipeline, to mining assets in Saskatchewan and in Nova Scotia, to new telecom, better broadband for Canadians, to research and development, to technology, to any sort of investment that's going to create good jobs and and higher incomes for Canadians is we have lowered the tax rate on investment in Canada. It's now less than half, less than half the rate in the United States, it's less than a third of the G7 average. It is the best fiscal regime in the world. In other words, it is the best time in the world for Canadians and the world to invest in Canada, make us stronger.
Craig Reed — That's Prime Minister Mark Carney in an exclusive one on one conversation with Harvard Media's John Tupper in our Fort McMurray studio.
Coming up tomorrow, we'll hear from SaskToday's Ryan Young and his conversation with Farm Credit Canada vice president and chief economist Craig Johnston on the trade dispute’s impact on food and beverage prices. And, of course, we'll have the latest on any new developments. I'm Craig Reid. Have a great day and thank you for listening to Trade Dispute: Impact on the Prairies.
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