Opinion: When Eby sits down with Mark Carney later this week, the prime minister might want to start the conversation with a math lesson
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VICTORIA — Premier David Eby has often boasted about B.C.’s success in securing spots on the federal government’s list of major projects to be fast tracked in the national interest.
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The LNG Canada expansion project in Kitimat and the Red Chris copper and gold mine in northwestern B.C. were among the first five projects announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney last September.
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“I’m glad to see that 40 per cent of the federal government’s nation-building projects are located in B.C.,” Eby said at the time. “If the federal government wants private-sector projects that deliver prosperity for all Canadians, look west to British Columbia.”
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Carney included two more B.C. projects — Ksi Lisims LNG and the North Coast transmission line — in the next six announced in November. Underscoring the B.C. connection, he made the announcement in Terrace.
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Eby could not have been more happy.
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“With today’s announcement we see that half of the projects across the country that the prime minister has identified as major projects are B.C. projects,” he said.
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“B.C. is going to be the economic engine of this new economy that we are building and it is great to see some recognition from Ottawa that this is going to be the case.”
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By the end of 2025, B.C. had four projects on the list, Ontario and Quebec had two each, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and the North one apiece and the remaining provinces — none.
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Just last week, Ottawa offered further reassurances to Eby regarding B.C.’s central importance in developing major projects.
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Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson shared a platform with Premier Eby in Vancouver where they touted the prospects for approval of Phase 2 of the LNG Canada plant in Kitimat.
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Both governments announced an agreement to do whatever it takes to secure a final investment decision from Shell and its partners in LNG Canada before the end of the year.
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“Moving toward final investment decision is a major vote of confidence in the project,” said Eby. “We think that’s worth celebrating.”
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“When you see countries — Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Shell operating all over the world and China — all saying, we can put our money anywhere and we want to put it in this country, that is a huge show of support,” agreed Hodgson.
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Yet for all those federal votes of confidence in B.C., Eby expressed only contempt Friday when Prime Minister Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a pipeline deal.
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“As a country, it’s time to stop rewarding bad behaviour,” Eby fumed. “It cannot be the case that the projects that get prioritized in Canada are those where a premier threatens to leave the country.”
