Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford signed an agreement Thursday to speed up approval of major projects in the province under a “one project, one process, one decision” model.

This approach means that projects that would have been subject to environmental assessments at both the federal and provincial levels will now go through Ontario’s process alone when the project is located primarily within the province.

“It’s time for Canada to build big things again. And nowhere will the impact of this deal be felt more immediately than in the development of the Ring of Fire,” Ford told a Thursday press conference in Ottawa.

Carney said projects will use the federal process when Ottawa has primary jurisdiction and a mixed assessment system when they fall under shared jurisdiction. Carney added the federal government retains responsibility for things like preserving fish habitats and migratory bird routes.

“That will make approvals more efficient, delivering major projects faster while maintaining both federal and provincial standards,” Carney said.

The Canadian Press has this one.

In that same vein, our own Aya Dufour reports that under this agreement, Eagle’s Nest, the ost advanced Ring of Fire mine, will proceed without impact assessment.

Under the current rules, Eagle’s Nest is not subject to federal assessment because its proposed production capacity is less than 5,000 tonnes per day.

Ontario and Ottawa developed assessment guidelines for the project back in 2015, but the federal government ended up shelving the process when the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) took effect in 2019.

Earlier this year, the Ford government killed the requirement for a comprehensive impact assessment of Eagle’s Nest as part of the Protecting Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025.

“The project scope has changed significantly since 2015 and the approved terms of reference are no longer aligned with the project as it is currently proposed,” reads a notice on Ontario’s environmental registry.

Pablo Rodriguez has publicly announced his resignation as Quebec Liberal leader amid an ongoing crisis in the party.

He told reporters in Montreal today he had become a distraction as the Liberals try to prepare for next year’s election.

The former federal cabinet minister says he made the decision out of a sense of duty, and he’s leaving with his head held high.

He says he had hoped to lead the party to victory in the next election, but the party must be united.

CP has more.

In Other Headlines

Internationally

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday unveiled a series of regulatory actions designed to effectively ban gender-affirming care for minors, building on broader Trump administration restrictions on transgender Americans.

The proposals mark the administration’s most significant moves to restrict the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgical interventions for transgender children — running counter to the recommendations of most major U.S. medical organizations.

More than half of U.S. states already ban or restrict gender-affirming care.

AP reports.

Staying in D.C., President Donald Trump’s handpicked board voted Thursday to rename Washington’s leading performing arts center as the Trump-Kennedy Center, the White House said, in a move that was quickly denounced as a “disgrace” by the Democratic leader of the House, who is on the board.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the vote on social media, attributing it to the “unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building. Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation.”

AP has this one too.

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

The final pennies produced by the U.S. government cost, well, a pretty penny.

The U.S. Mint sold 232 three-cent sets for a whopping sum of $16.76 million at an auction last Thursday hosted by Stack’s Bowers Galleries.

AP has more.