Holt leaves first ministers meeting with momentum for the province’s major projects.
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt left a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and other Canadian premiers feeling confident about a ‘nation building’ future for the province and the country.
“We saw Team Canada work with unity and a momentum that we have not seen in a long time,” said Holt in a press conference via Zoom from Saskatoon.
“New Brunswick features prominently in the priorities of this federal government.”
Holt told reporters on Tuesday what these projects would look like for New Brunswick.
While the biggest project tabled for New Brunswick was the Eastern Energy Partnership (EEP), the premier also discussed critical mineral extraction, natural gas pipelines through Quebec and major investments into the ports of Saint John and Belledune.
“We put forward the things that are going to move forward this year and next year so we see the benefit right away,” Holt said to CBC Power & Politics David Cochrane afterwards.
The EEP links the Atlantic provinces through upgrades to generation and transmission of energy across the eastern provinces. The provinces are seeking to diversify their energy generation to create a more secure and united Atlantic Canada.
In a press conference afterwards, Holt broke the project down into three areas of improvement: transmission, generation, and infrastructure for other energy projects like natural gas.
Holt also said that New Brunswick would be a major player in the partnership as the connection that unites the other provinces. She said New Brunswick’s major generation contribution would primarily come from their nuclear energy capacity, of which the federal government was interested in pursuing.
The project would unite Atlantic Canada’s energy infrastructure by improving energy transmission connections throughout Atlantic Canada, including Newfoundland and Labrador. Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston also mentioned pushing the energy westward, connecting with energy markets in Quebec and Ontario.
After the meeting a rough budget of $8-billion was mentioned by Holt and Houston. Holt clarified to reporters that the estimated budget was for the transmission part of the partnership.
“I actually think it’s going to be a good win for New Brunswick that we’re using the skills that we have in this province in a way that benefits Nova Scotia and benefits Prince Edward Island as well, while strengthening our grid and our connections,” said Holt.
She said that the province’s labour is well prepared to take on these projects, especially in the building and managing of transmission infrastructure. The only area where the province will have to look outside of its borders for labour will be in development of the province’s nuclear capacity.
“What New Brunswick is most interested in right now is natural gas,” said Holt on the question of an oil pipeline through Quebec.
“Extending a natural gas line that stops in Quebec City, a couple hundred kilometers to the border of New Brunswick, and then through New Brunswick […] to Belledue, down the west and connecting in at Fredericton to the Maritimes and Northeast pipeline.”
Holt said the natural gas pipeline is something that industry wants and would benefit the liquified natural gas terminal in Saint John.
Holt, speaking to CBC, also mentioned improving the ports of Saint John and Belledune with the help of the federal government.
These improvements will be to make it easier for the exportation of New Brunswick goods and the goods coming through New Brunswick and into the Bay of Fundy.
“More projects will come forward… projects will also fall by the wayside,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney after the meeting on Monday.
Reiterating that this discussion was the first of many to come regarding major ‘nation-building’ projects. These projects will evolve as time goes on and provinces start to create more concrete plans for how to complete these projects.
Author
