Welcome to Economic Insights, your twice-weekly deep dive into the major projects and policy shifts shaping the Canadian economy.

Stories we are following:

– TC Energy completes Indigenous investment deal in Coastal GasLink.

TC Energy Corp. says it has closed a deal that gives five First Nations an economic interest in the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which brings natural gas from northeastern B.C. to the LNG Canada plant and export terminal in Kitimat, B.C.

Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available. The deal involves the Haisla Nation, Halfway River First Nation, McLeod Lake Indian Band, Saulteau First Nations and West Moberly First Nations.

TC Energy operates Coastal GasLink and has a 35 per cent interest in the pipeline. It says a second transaction with another First Nations entity is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

In 2022, TC Energy announced the signing of option agreements to sell a 10 per cent equity interest in the pipeline to Indigenous communities across the project corridor.

CP has the details.

– Emerging Asia’s power-driven LNG demand is at risk as renewables gain ground.

A Reuters report on Asia’s cooling appetite for LNG could rattle Carney Liberals counting on Asian demand to fill Canada’s export ambitions:

Emerging Asia is ​losing its appetite for liquefied natural gas to generate power as geopolitical shocks, equipment shortages and cheaper renewables derail projects, disappointing industry hopes the ‌region would drive the next wave of demand.

Countries including Vietnam and the Philippines had planned new LNG import terminals and power plants to meet rising demand and transition from coal, but the market shocks of Russia’s 2022 Ukraine invasion and the ongoing US-Iran war sent prices soaring, exposing the risks of LNG reliance.

Since then, several projects in the region have stalled while buildout plans for others have fallen behind targets, ​with a global gas turbine shortage contributing to the slowdown.

With renewable generation costs falling, governments are accelerating their clean energy deployment to cut import fuel dependency. The ​International Energy Agency forecast in October that wind and solar energy will contribute 11% of Southeast Asia’s energy mix by 2030, up from ⁠5% in 2025.

More on that here. 

– Bill C-39 committee opens with opposition push for Dabrusin testimony, longer timelines.

Despite the chair’s complaint that opposition MPs were trying to “point of order the meeting to death,” a special committee studying the Building Canada Strong Act agreed on an amended motion at its first meeting.

The committee was created Thursday, after Bill C-39 passed second reading in the House. Chair James Maloney apologized for scheduling the meeting early on a Friday, but said the alternative was meeting during the House’s week-long Thanksgiving break.

Conservative MPs, and the lone Bloc Québécois MP, quickly agreed with the Liberals on routine motions, but sticking points emerged as the committee worked to establish timelines and a preliminary witness list.

We have that breakdown.

By the numbers:

34: The number of days before the Building Canada Strong Act hits the clause-by-clause review stage at the legislative committee. 

$270 million: The latest federal funding for the Mactaquac dam and Salisbury terminal project in New Brunswick. 

US$ 750-billion: South Korea’s planned government-led investment in its electrification program, part of a “Korean Green Transformation” plan developed in the fallout of the war on Iran, with the goal of increasing renewable energy capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2030.

Major projects watch:

– Energy Minister Tim Hodgson announced $270 million for the Mactaquac dam and Salisbury terminal brownfield project Tuesday. The Mactaquac dam revamp was pitched to investors at last month’s Canada Investment Summit in Toronto. It was described as needing structural rehabilitation, equipment replacement and enhanced fish passage infrastructure, with capital expenditures reaching more than $7 billion. 

– The federal government says that Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation representatives have a conflict of interest and shouldn’t lead decisions on who the company can sell its assets to. Baffinland has been working through financial troubles for months. In May, the company wasgranted creditor protection as it owes $2.6 billion to 231 creditors. As the company was dangerously close to running out of cash, it got a $660-million loan from federal Export Development Canada (EDC) to keep the mine operational. CBC has the details.

– In other failing northern mine news, the Northwest Territories government is taking over  the responsibility of closing Ekati, after the owner Arctic Canadian Diamond Company was placed into receivership.  The territorial government is seeking to shut down the diamond mine’s public watchdog as part of the process but is facing opposition from Indigenous groups who were promised independent oversight. Cabin Radio reports. 

– Nova Scotia’s independent Energy Board is exploring “securitization,” a process that could allow certain electricity costs to be financed at lower interest rates – remortgaged – in a bid to potentially save ratepayers money. “No politics. No predetermined outcome,” writes Premier Tim Houston.

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