For the first time in over 40 years, a First Ministers’ meeting took place in Saskatchewan on Monday. 

In the face of American tariffs, the group gathered in Saskatoon to commit to removing trade barriers and advance numerous major projects of national interest that would help the country achieve ‘one Canadian economy.’ Prime Minister Mark Carney shared a list of potential projects, including a port and road at Grays Bay, a Churchill port, and a northwest coast oil pipeline. 

“The purpose of the meeting today was to catalyze bringing projects up, getting a shared understanding of what would constitute a project of national interest, explaining the new federal approach to this, and building consensus and unity.”

Both Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith admitted that they are enthusiastic about this newfound collaboration with the federal government.  

“I’m encouraged by the immediate change of tone we’ve seen in recent months,” Smith stated. “I think that when we hear the Prime Minister talking about being an energy superpower, we haven’t heard that kind of language for some time, on both conventional and clean power.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says it was the best First Ministers’ that’s occurred in ten years. 

“We were all talking. Now it’s time to put it into action. All of us are responsible, but I thought it was an incredible meeting. Great communication, great collaboration, and we all walked out of that room united…. Now the Prime Minister is going to go to work, get the legislation passed.”

Carney described the log of projects as a living list that could change based on proponents, priorities, and support levels.  

Each project would need to meet a set of criteria as well, such as include the use of sustainable and clean technologies, are a high priority for Indigenous leaders, and strengthen Canada’s autonomy, resilience, and security.

The federal government will table it’s One Canadian Economy legislation in the near future, which Carney says will have projects being approved and completed at speeds never seen before by Canadians.