Hub Podcasts Why wasn't an oil pipeline on PM Carney's 'nation-building projects' list?
Nov 13, 2025
Heather Exner-Pirot, Director of Energy at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, dives into Prime Minister Carney's latest nation-building projects. She questions the need for fast-tracked regulatory processes and discusses the implications of being on the major projects list, which favors government financing over private investment. Heather also analyzes why no oil pipeline made the cut, emphasizing the need for regulatory certainty. Additionally, she explores the dynamics of federal-provincial negotiations and critiques government overpromises on economic impacts.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
MPO Acts As Financing, Not Deregulator
- The Major Projects Office (MPO) is acting more like a financing funnel than a regulatory streamliner.
- Heather Exner-Pirot says projects on the list mainly seek government money rather than regulatory relief.
Listed Projects Mostly Already Approved
- Most announced projects already had approvals and fall under provincial jurisdiction.
- Heather argues the MPO hasn't demonstrably removed regulatory red tape for those projects.
Few Winners Could Crowd Out Others
- The MPO list is small while hundreds of major projects remain in Natural Resources Canada's inventory.
- Heather warns that picking a few winners may crowd out competing private projects for the same markets.