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

Stories we are following:

– Private backing for West Coast pipeline unclear, but Trans Mountain CEO says interest ‘coming.’

The CEO of federally owned Trans Mountain Corp., Mark Maki, says Canada is “on the cusp of something very important” with the proposal to build a new bitumen pipeline to the West Coast. 

Earlier this year, the Carney government tasked the Crown corporation with building the line in partnership with Alberta and, with a 10 per cent stake, Pembina Pipeline Corp. 

While speaking at a Canada 2020 event in Ottawa Tuesday, Maki acknowledged the “tiptoeing” by private capital around the proposal, but said he can see and feel the interest, “like old familiar faces are back.”

He said with the national interest designation under the Building Canada Act coming down Thursday, his first task will be to go out in the field and meet with First Nations along the route. 

“The Nations benefitted from the last project [Trans Mountain], and they will benefit from this one,” he said. 

Maki defended Finance Canada’s recent offer of a collective 15 per cent stake in Trans Mountain to First Nations. Some have expressed disappointment, noting that Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government floated figures as high as 100 per cent when it was courting Indigenous support for the project amid heated opposition.

All of that and more, right here.

– Poilievre says Carney shouldn’t take credit for LNG Canada expansion as Liberals hail ‘huge win.’

LNG Canada is doubling the size of its Kitimat, B.C., export facility, approving a second phase at the country’s first large-scale LNG terminal only a year after its first cargo left the dock.

The expansion comes as B.C. heads into an election and Parliament returns for a fall session focused on major projects, with the federal and provincial governments presenting the approval as a vote of confidence in Canada’s resource sector and regulatory climate.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Mark Carney shouldn’t take credit for the project going ahead, arguing it should not have taken a decade for the joint venture to make the move. He blamed the delay on requirements that the project be powered by hydroelectricity rather than natural gas.

“Mr. Carney should not be bragging about anything,” he said.

The energy minister’s parliamentary secretary, Calgary MP Corey Hogan, tells iPolitics he doesn’t think the power requirements delayed a final investment decision for a project expansion. 

“I mean, of course, [Poilievre]’s going to say that, this is his oppositional mode,” he said. “But I think he should join us in celebrating what is a huge win for Canada and B.C.” 

Meanwhile, the CEO of LNG Canada, Chris Cooper, thanked “the government of Canada and British Columbia over the years, across the political spectrum and indeed through election cycles,” during the announcement Tuesday.

We have those details. 

By the numbers:

$450-million: Trans Mountain’s quarterly payment to the federal government, consisting of $150-million in interest payments and $300-million in cash dividends.

$1.2-billion: The amount promised by the federal government to safeguard Canadian waters from increased tanker traffic, including developing a response plan to protect whales and other marine mammals from oil spills. 

1: The missing fisheries permit for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project, due before the end of October. The project is set to play an important role in the proposed West Coast Oil Pipeline.

Major projects watch:

– Talks have collapsed between Kebaowek First Nation and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in a case involving the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the implementation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent. The First Nation is expected to deliver its official response to the project on September 30 as part of the assessment proceedings. iPolitics will break it all down in your inbox Thursday.

– Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has unveiled the province’s nuclear energy plan, including a power production goal within 24 years. Under the plan, the province aims to produce at least 2,600 megawatts of nuclear power by 2050. By comparison, Ontario’s Pickering Nuclear Generating Station produces 2,100 MW of electricity, powering 1.5 million homes annually. More from Global News.

– Arctic Gateway Group, operator of the Port of Churchill, has signed an agreement with the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Headlines: