OTTAWA–Prime Minister Mark Carney signalled Tuesday that two port proposals could be among the first major projects approved under a contentious Liberal law, amid a European tour where he sought to bolster Canada’s economic and security influence abroad.
“Our government is in the process of unleashing half a trillion dollars of investment in energy infrastructure, port infrastructure, particularly intelligence infrastructure, as well, with AI, and a number of those investments, the first of which we will be formally announcing in the next two weeks, are with respect to new port infrastructure,” Carney said during a news conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
He specifically cited two projects: a planned expansion of the Port of Montreal to the city of Contrecoeur, and a proposed expansion of the Port of Churchill in northern Manitoba, which Transport Canada deems “the only rail-serviced deep water port in North America that accesses the Arctic Ocean.”
“Some of the examples … will include, from reinforcing and building on the Port of Montreal, in Contracoeur, (to) a new port, effectively, in Churchill, Manitoba, which would open up enormous (liquified natural gas) plus other opportunities, and other east coast ports” for Canada’s critical metals and minerals, the prime minister said.
Later in Riga, speaking alongside Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, Carney said he could not say with certainty whether those projects would be approved under his government’s major projects law, despite committing to unveiling funding for one of them in two weeks’ time.
The Building Canada Act was rammed through Parliament earlier this summer and gave Ottawa temporary powers to skirt existing environmental laws and regulations to fast-track the development of “nation-building” projects like pipelines and ports.
Under the law, such projects will need to be put before a specialized office that Carney plans to launch Sept. 1, which will review and greenlight projects in tandem with an advisory council aimed at ensuring proposals respect Indigenous rights.
“The Port of Montreal, that could be one of the first projects, I’m not saying definitively one of the first projects,” Carney told reporters in Latvia, adding that the environmental assessment process could be delegated to Quebec to accelerate approvals.
“With respect to Churchill … there is much more to it than Contrecoeur in terms of what it potentially unlocks,” Carney said, citing not just LNG potential but also the possibility of Indigenous participation, corridors for critical minerals, and pathways into Europe.
Both Quebec Premier François Legault and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew have identified the respective projects as key to diversifying trade and bolstering Canada’s economic sovereignty.
On Tuesday, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, his chief of staff Marc-André Blanchard, and Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington.
LeBlanc’s office said in a statement that both sides engaged in a “lengthy and constructive” meeting, which was held days after Canada walked back its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Carney in Latvia continued to assert that because 85 per cent of the trade between Canada and the U.S. is duty free, the two nations have the “best deal,” except when it comes to U.S. President Donald Trump’s targeting of steel, aluminum, autos, copper and softwood lumber.
“Those are the areas where immediately we are focused on improving the outcomes, if we can,” Carney said.
“In order to do that, we will have to look at other areas where we can have win-win co-operation.”
The prime minister’s European tour, set to conclude Wednesday, has thus far seen Carney talk security and bilateral trade in Ukraine and deepen Canada’s trading and defence relationship with Poland.
In Germany on Tuesday, Carney announced a new critical minerals and energy partnership, and in Latvia, he pledged to extend Canada’s largest overseas mission, Operation REASSURANCE, for another three years.
