Canada Minute: Issue 79

Canada Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Canadian politics.

• In a video posted online, Prime Minister Mark Carney admitted the climate plan he inherited from Justin Trudeau's government was too expensive for Canadians and too divisive for the country, echoing criticisms long made by Conservatives and supporters of expanding oil and gas exports. Carney acknowledged that Canada's emissions will be higher in the next few years than they were projected to be under the previous government's plan, largely because his Government has scrapped the consumer carbon price and the oil and gas production cap, while expanding liquefied natural gas exports and supporting another pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast. Much of the 17-minute video focuses on electrification, with Carney pitching a goal of doubling the country's electricity grid by 2050 and better connecting Canada's isolated provincial grids. He also made the case for expanding oil and gas exports, arguing that as long as the world relies on conventional energy, as much of that energy as possible should come from Canada. Conservative natural resources critic Carol Anstey said that after a year in government, Carney has only videos to show Canadians and little in tangible results, while climate groups welcomed the electrification push but criticized the plans to expand fossil fuel exports.
  
  
• Speaking of pipelines, the federal government and British Columbia have unveiled a multibillion-dollar memorandum of understanding that keeps the northern oil tanker ban in place, ruling out an oil pipeline from Alberta to BC's northern coast. Prime Minister Mark Carney and BC Premier David Eby announced the Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement in Vancouver last Thursday, with Carney claiming it would help unlock more than $150 billion in new investment with BC as the "linchpin". The deal includes $3.5 billion in federal funds for the North Coast Transmission Line, $500 million to expand the Red Chris Mine to boost national copper production by more than 15%, and federal support for a $10-billion upgrade of the Roberts Bank container export terminal that Carney says will add $100 billion in new trade capacity. The MOU also acknowledges Ottawa's pipeline agreement with Alberta, stating that BC must share meaningfully in the economic benefits of any new pipeline and be compensated for environmental risks if one is imposed on the province, with mechanisms still to be discussed, including an annual royalty payment and an environmental response fund. Eby said the deal does not require BC to support any pipeline proposal from Alberta, but he acknowledged that pipelines are federal jurisdiction and that the province will not go to court to fight a pipeline project. The agreement also recognizes Canada's interest in increasing throughput on the existing Trans Mountain Pipeline from 890,000 barrels a day to 1.2 million.
  
  
• On the other side of that same file, the Alberta government submitted its application for the West Coast Oil Pipeline to the federal Major Projects Office last Thursday, seeking to have the project listed as being in the national interest, a day after its original July 1st deadline under the memorandum of understanding signed by Ottawa and Alberta in the fall. The proposed pipeline would carry more than one million barrels of oil per day from Bruderheim, Alberta, to a deep-water port on BC's southwest coast, largely following the existing Trans Mountain corridor, a southern route that would not be subject to the federal oil tanker ban on BC's north coast. Alberta will partner with Trans Mountain Corporation and Pembina Pipeline to build the project, answering questions about who would construct and fund it, and the two governments will facilitate Indigenous equity partnerships through provincial and federal loan guarantee programs. The federal government has committed to a timely review, with the goal of a national-interest listing by October 1st and construction receiving permission (though not actually starting) as early as September 1st, 2027. Alberta says the project would help double its oil production to eight million barrels per day over the next 10 years. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Ottawa's support for the pipeline is linked to building the Pathways carbon capture and storage project, and a tripartite agreement between the two governments and the Oil Sands Alliance on regulatory reforms and growth incentives is expected in the coming days.
  
  
• US President Donald Trump's administration has formally declined to extend its trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, triggering what are expected to be tough negotiations on amending the deal. Last Wednesday was the deadline set out in the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement for each country to declare whether it wanted to extend the deal to 2042 or renegotiate its terms, and Canada and Mexico had both said they wanted an extension. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the decision after a virtual meeting with Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Mexico's economy secretary, saying the United States did not agree to renew the agreement in its current form and will continue to engage with both countries on its "shortcomings" and on US trade deficits. The move does not kill the agreement, which does not expire until 2036, though a senior Trump administration official said the President reserves the right to withdraw entirely, something any country can do with six months' notice. The deal is particularly valuable to Canada because it exempts nearly 90% of Canadian exports to the US from the tariffs Trump has imposed since returning to the White House, and Canada is seeking relief from tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos, and softwood lumber. LeBlanc said the three countries agreed on the importance of continuing their discussions, but neither he nor Greer has indicated when the Canadian and American negotiating teams will meet next.
  
  
• Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Parliament to investigate Ottawa's proposal to convert unsold condominium units in British Columbia into affordable housing. In a letter to the House ethics committee, Poilievre says the program, which could help finance the purchase of 2,200 vacant condos, amounts to a "condo bailout" for developers, bankers, and investors. Prime Minister Mark Carney says the idea is to support Canadians who need housing, and that it is part of the BC government's plans to help homebuyers struggling to save for a down payment. Carney has also said his Government did not explain the program well when he announced it on June 19th. Poilievre argues the Liberals are intervening in the market to help developers who built too many condos that didn't fit demand, and says the proposal will prop up high prices by preventing a price correction from taking place. The letter was sent to the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, which has a majority Liberal membership, and Housing Minister Gregor Robertson's office did not have an immediate comment.
  
  

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