Dawn Farrell, president of the Board of Directors of Trans Mountain Corporation, has been appointed CEO of the Main Projects Office of the Liberal Government, Prime Minister Carney announced Friday.
“Canada has always been a nation of builders,” said Carney in a statement announcing the opening of the office. “I am delighted that Dawn Farrell, one of Canada’s most experienced executives, is taking a step forward to help lead this vital priority.”
Before Farrell’s appointment became public, a source told Radio-Canadá that Carney was looking for a candidate “with experience in carrying out large and complex projects that involve several provinces and that they could navigate a regulatory environment.”
The movement is likely to help Carney to strengthen ties between Ottawa and Alberta.
Alberta Prime Minister Danielle Smith said she has great respect for Farrell, whom Smith said she has an impressive corporate history in the province.
“The story as an advisor,” said Smith. “I am very, very happy that the prime minister and I have something in common: that he will also tell her as an advisor.”
Dawn Farrell, president of the Board of Directors of Trans Mountain Corporation, has been appointed CEO of the Main Projects Office of the Liberal Government, a central desktop based in Calgary aimed at accelerating regulatory processes for infrastructure projects of ‘Construction of Nations’.
Farrell has almost four decades of experience in the energy industry, having served as executive vice president of BC Hydro and CEO of Transalta, one of the largest wind energy producers in Canada, before becoming CEO of Trans Mountain in 2022.
Bill C-5 project, Carney legislation to accelerate approvals for the main infrastructure projects identified as “construction of the nation”, passed through Parliament in June.
The second half of the bill, the Canada Construction Law, allows the federal cabinet to choose projects, approve them in advance and cancel federal laws, environmental reviews and permissions.
The legislation also accelerates the approval times from five years to two when introducing an approach of “a project, a review” instead that federal and provincial approval processes occur sequentially.
The main project office (MPO) will be the central place to present launches, deliver complaints or express concerns about the projects. CBC News has learned that not all projects approved by the office will necessarily obtain federal financing.
The Office of the Prime Minister (PMO) said that the office “will help structure and coordinate the financing of the private sector, provincial and territorial partners” and the federal government to ensure that taxpayers obtain value for money.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking with journalists in Latvia on Tuesday, was close to appointing the main infrastructure projects that his government will prioritize. Carney appointed the port of Churchill de Manitoba as a possibility.
A PMO statement said it would host Calgary, but will have offices “in other important Canadian cities.”
The MPO will receive advice on projects from an Indigenous Advisory Council, which will be attacked in September, which will have representatives of the first nations, Inuit and Methis, including modern treaties and autonomous partners.
“Establish the [MPO] It is essential to guarantee the interests of the first nations, Inuit and Métis are at the Canada Strong construction center, “said Rebecca Alty, Minister of Indigenous Relations of the Crown, in the statement.
The PMO said the office will also help optimize approvals for important projects not identified under the Canada Construction Law.
Ports in Montreal, Churchill
Earlier this week, while on a trip to Germany, Carney said that some of the construction projects of the Nation that could be approved first could include a new port infrastructure in Churchill, Man. And Montreal.
Carney’s comments on the site of Northern Manitoba occurred when he said that the federal government will spend half a billion dollars on infrastructure projects, ranging from energy to ports and intelligence.
“Several of those investments, the first of which we will formally announce in the next two weeks, are with respect to the new port infrastructure,” said Carney on Tuesday.
“Some of the examples in the public domain will include reinforcement and construction in the port of Montreal, Contrecoeur; a new port, indeed, in Churchill, Manitoba, which would open huge LNG [liquified natural gas] more other opportunities; and other ports of the east coast for those critical metals and minerals. “
The port of Churchill, which is one of the most northern deep waters in Canada, is owned and operated by Arctic Gateway Group, an association of dozens of communities of the first nations and Hudson Bay. It is the only deep water port with access to the Arctic Ocean in North America that can also be accessed by rail.
The port currently has a brief operational window every summer.
The industry supports MPO, conservatives not so much
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) said Farrell is the “ideal candidate” to preside over the office.
“The creation of the main project office and this appointment are concrete steps to make Canada an energy superpower and send a positive signal to the industry and investors,” said the president and executive director of CAPT, Lisa Baiton, to CBC News in a statement.
The president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Canada, Candace Laing, also said that establishing the MPO sends the right message to the industry.
“It is good news to see this established in Calgary, closer to many of the companies involved in important projects, while sending a sign of a truly national and Canada team,” Laing said in a statement.
Some indigenous leaders, including the great boss Stewart Phillip of the BC Indian Chiefs Union, Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’moks and the deputy director of the Council of the Villa de Hagwilget, Jesse Stoeppler, expressed concern about how important projects will affect their communities.
“All Canadians, and all indigenous nations must be united to oppose this office and refuse to support it,” Na’moks said in a press release issued by the three leaders and several environmental organizations.
The conservatives criticized the Liberal Government for late in establishing the MPO.
“Another office of bureaucrats that one day will consider approvement of a project will not be built. This is just another mechanism for liberals to choose their winners and losers,” said the party’s statement.
