Poilievre's Conservatives to fast-track new pipelines and energy projects | Daily Hive

Poilievre's Conservatives promise to fast-track new energy infrastructure projects, including pipelines

Pierre Poilievre. (Conservative Party of Canada)

Improving energy security is a key priority for the Conservative Party of Canada in its bid to become the new governing party in the federal election.

This week, Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre announced the platform promise of creating a “Canada First National Energy Corridor” to fast-track the approval of new electrical transmission lines, railways, pipelines, and other critical infrastructure.

This corridor across the country would have a pre-approved transportation corridor designation to expedite the review and implementation of such projects.

This will eliminate “endless regulatory limbo,” involve First Nations from the outset and provide economic benefits to them, create good-paying jobs, and provide new revenues for governments.

Approvals for such projects will be reduced from many years — or even decades — to just six months.

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Currently, for instance, key pipelines that transport oil from Western Canada to Eastern Canada go through the United States before reaching Southern Ontario and Quebec. Poilievre deems this to be a major national security issue.

Furthermore, the new corridor will not only bypass the U.S., but also establish new ways to transport natural resources to other international markets. In 2024, Canada exported 98 per cent of its crude oil to the U.S.

“After the Lost Liberal decade, Canada is poorer, weaker, and more dependent on the United States than ever before,” said Poilievre in a statement.

“My ‘Canada First National Energy Corridor’ will enable us to quickly build the infrastructure we need to strengthen our country so we can stand on our own two feet and stand up to the Americans.”

Poilievre slammed the Liberal Party of Canada’s governance for cancelling 16 major energy projects from 2015 to 2020, which they say cost the economy $176 billion.

This includes the 2017 cancellation of the new Energy East pipeline from Alberta to New Brunswick, which would have not only opened up oil exports to other markets, but also addressed the issue of oil flowing through the U.S. mid-west states before arriving in Ontario and Quebec.

Map of major CER-regulated oil pipelines in Canada. (Government of Canada)

When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Canada in 2022 to meet with then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he urged Canada to quickly increase its natural gas exports to help Europe reduce its energy dependence on Russia amid Russian aggression against Ukraine. However, Trudeau rejected the request, and asserted there has “never been a strong business case” for liquid natural gas (LNG) export projects from Canada’s East Coast. Following the rejection, in late 2022, Germany reached an agreement with Qatar to supply LNG through the 2040s.

Then, in 2023, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Trudeau to pitch a similar request for Canada to increase its LNG exports from British Columbia to Japan amid growing shortages caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine. However, Trudeau declined this request from another ally.

Since then, given the current harsh geopolitical, economic, and national security realities, the Liberals have come under fire for their policies that prioritized long-term climate action considerations.

The Conservatives have committed to repealing Trudeau’s Bill C-69 of banning new pipelines and Bill C-48 of the Liberals’ tanker ban on the coast of B.C.

A Conservative-led federal government would approve new pipelines to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and approve and expedite LNG projects, including the second phase of the LNG Canada project in Kitimat, B.C.

“The choice is clear: a fourth Liberal term that will keep our resources in the ground and keep us weak and vulnerable to Trump’s threats, or a strong new Conservative government that will approve projects, build an economic fortress, bring jobs and dollars home, and put Canada first — for a change,” continued Poilievre.

“Our Canada First National Energy Corridor will get us out from under America’s thumb and enable us to build the infrastructure we need to sell our natural resources to new markets, bring home jobs and dollars, and make us sovereign and self-reliant to stand up to Trump from a position of strength.”

Earlier this week, when asked by media, Liberal party leader Mark Carney departed from his predecessor’s approach and committed to building new projects deemed to be a national priority and using new legislation to expedite such projects.

Poilievre has also made a promise to abolish the industrial carbon tax applied to the manufacturing of Canadian steel, aluminum, natural gas, food production, concrete, and other major industries to lower prices for consumers. So far, as one of his first moves as prime minister, Carney has only removed the consumer carbon tax.

The federal election is scheduled for Monday, April 28, 2025.

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