In principle, a sovereign fund is a fantastic idea that we should have done long ago.
In the specifics, I’m a bit concerned about how it’s being set up, because I don’t trust that “major projects of national interest” won’t be narrowly defined as “fossil fuel infrastructure”.
These are the projects that have been officially acknowledged so far, per the CBC:
The Sisson Mine, for critical minerals, in New Brunswick.
The Crawford Nickel project in Ontario.
The Ksi Lisims liquefied natural gas project in British Columbia.
An Iqaluit hydro project.
The Nouveau Monde Graphite Phase 2 project in Quebec.
The Northwest Critical Conservation Corridor in northwest B.C. and Yukon., which could include critical minerals and clean power transmission developments in the area.
The North Coast Transmission Line in northwest B.C.
Certainly all industrial infrastructure, but not necessarily for fossil fuels.
The Ksi Lisims liquefied natural gas project in British Columbia.
That one is, but there are also issues of geopolitics and strategic economics involved. I think the key rebuttal is whether it is “narrowly defined as fossil fuel infrastructure” which we can clearly see it is not, nor should it be. I don’t think it can realistically exclude fossil fuel infrastructure given how much of it underpins our economy and position in the world at this particular moment in history, but I will certainly be happy to see a lot these non-fossil-fuel infrastructure projects get built.
There’s a few other projects that are big ticket items that there would need to be federal money for. Thinking things like the Toronto - Quebec City high speed rail, the port expansion at Churchill, the space launch site in Nova Scotia. Pretty sure the major port in BC (the container port, not the LNG/oil one) is looking to expand too. Then there’s the Ring of Fire mining projects in northern Ontario. That would for sure involve the federal government, since it touches the “critical minerals” issue and directly involved Native relations.
Your downvoters must have already forgotten about the ‘Green Slush Fund’ (Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) program) the one that the Liberals refused to reveal the details of where the billion dollars went even after Parliament demanded the books be opened. Eventually the Auditor General found that Liberal appointees to the fund gave $400 million tax dollars to their own companies, involving 186 conflicts of interest. We call this Green Slush Fund for a reason. Imagine how much more accountable they’ll be with 30 billion.
In principle, a sovereign fund is a fantastic idea that we should have done long ago.
In the specifics, I’m a bit concerned about how it’s being set up, because I don’t trust that “major projects of national interest” won’t be narrowly defined as “fossil fuel infrastructure”.
These are the projects that have been officially acknowledged so far, per the CBC:
Certainly all industrial infrastructure, but not necessarily for fossil fuels.
That one is, but there are also issues of geopolitics and strategic economics involved. I think the key rebuttal is whether it is “narrowly defined as fossil fuel infrastructure” which we can clearly see it is not, nor should it be. I don’t think it can realistically exclude fossil fuel infrastructure given how much of it underpins our economy and position in the world at this particular moment in history, but I will certainly be happy to see a lot these non-fossil-fuel infrastructure projects get built.
There’s a few other projects that are big ticket items that there would need to be federal money for. Thinking things like the Toronto - Quebec City high speed rail, the port expansion at Churchill, the space launch site in Nova Scotia. Pretty sure the major port in BC (the container port, not the LNG/oil one) is looking to expand too. Then there’s the Ring of Fire mining projects in northern Ontario. That would for sure involve the federal government, since it touches the “critical minerals” issue and directly involved Native relations.
I just figured it was to funnel money to Liberal Party donors as usual.
Your downvoters must have already forgotten about the ‘Green Slush Fund’ (Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) program) the one that the Liberals refused to reveal the details of where the billion dollars went even after Parliament demanded the books be opened. Eventually the Auditor General found that Liberal appointees to the fund gave $400 million tax dollars to their own companies, involving 186 conflicts of interest. We call this Green Slush Fund for a reason. Imagine how much more accountable they’ll be with 30 billion.
No way Brookfield will benefit from this fund.
/s