Welcome to Economic Insights, a twice-weekly newsletter focusing on major projects and the Canadian economy at large.

Stories we are following:

• Conservative MP SANDRA COBENA says she’s negotiating Finance Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE to add more layers of approvals to a section of the budget implementation bill that grants a minister power to temporarily exempt people or companies from laws and regulations. Opposition parties say the wording of the proposed law is too broad and amounts to a power grab.
• South of the border, the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION is moving to revoke the 2009 ENDANGERMENT FINDING, effectively removing the legal foundation for the country’s greenhouse gas rules and and setting up a challenging regulatory collision with Canada.

Sandbox or overreach?

The CARNEY government’s first budget implementation bill (C-15) contains a section that has the opposition up in arms: the power for ministers to grant temporary exemptions from federal laws and regulations in the name of innovation, competitiveness, or economic growth.

Experimental governance: Minister CHAMPAGNE told iPolitics this week that these “regulatory sandboxes” are essential to compete internationally, as G7 nations and others adopt similar policies.

Conservative conditions: Conservative MP SANDRA COBENA says her party is negotiating “good faith” amendments that would require mandatory public consultations and parliamentary oversight for any sandbox exemption.

The stake: Industry groups have been vocal in their support, telling the government that without these “sandboxes,” Canada will continue to lose capital to the U.S., where the deregulatory environment is becoming a powerful magnet for investment.

BY THE NUMBERS

2: The number of times CANADA NICKEL has been referred to a government agency for fast tracking (the project landed in the federal MAJOR PROJECTS OFFICE in November, and in Ontario’s ONE PROJECT, ONE PROCESS framework last month.)

1,000 km: The length of the proposed ALTO HIGH-SPEED RAIL project currently being reviewed by the Major Projects Office.

$150 Million: The amount the DARLINGTON REFURBISHMENT project came in under budget.

MAJOR PROJECTS WATCH 

— ‘Now or never’: NORTHWEST TERRITORIES Industry Minister CAITLIN CLEVELAND spoke of the importance of northern infrastructure to a Toronto crowd this week, seeking commitments to the MACKENZIE VALLEY HIGHWAY and the TALTSON HYDRO EXPANSION projects. Her government is eager to know how the DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE plans to deploy $10 billion earmarked for YELLOWKNIFE and INUVIK (more from Cabin Radio).

— Pundits don’t know: In committee Thursday, Natural Resources Minister TIM HODGSON slammed “pundits who don’t think there’s going to be demand for LNG” in decades to come. “There’s a wonderful place for professors to talk about things,” he said. “But if someone’s going to pay me to do something and provide me a long term contract to do it, I will value that signal far greater than a pundit.” (note: so far, India and China have shown interest in Canadian LNG, but no long-term contract has been inked.)

— Timeline: HODGSON also said a recent update from the MAJOR PROJECTS OFFICE suggests there could be a final investment decision for SISSON MINE in 2027, with operations launching in 2030.

— Wait it out: As CTV reports, QUEBEC‘s largest public pension fund manager, LA CAISSE, is suspending future investments with DP WORLD because of alleged links between its top executive and JEFFREY EPSTEIN along with sexually themed messages the two are said to have exchanged. The PORT OF MONTREAL is currently negotiating a long term lucrative operator contract with DP WORLD, and says it will wait before reacting to the controversy.

—No contact: The CANADA ENERGY REGULATOR has not been in contact with the MAJOR PROJECTS OFFICE regarding the proposed NORTH COAST TRANSMISSION LINE, according to CEO TRACY SLETTO. That project is crucial to KSI LISIMS’ ‘lower emissions’ pitch.

HEADLINES 

KICKER

Shots taken…straight from the House committee transcript:

Min. HODGSON, to Bloc MP MARIO SIMARD: I believe you were a professor previously, there’s a wonderful place for professors to talk about things.

*Point of order* 

Conservative MP RICHARD MARTEL: He was not a full professor. I just wanted to point that out.

SIMARD:  And I have a point of order to to say RICHARD was hockey coach in the minor leagues, not the national league.

Committee chair MP TERRY DUGUID: These are not point of orders. And we’re spinning out of control here.

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