Akeeagok eager to hear Carney’s plan on major project approvals

As Prime Minister Mark Carney is poised to speed up the way major nation-building projects are approved, Premier P.J. Akeeagok says Nunavut is eager to collaborate.

Akeeagok, along with his fellow premiers, is to meet with Carney in Saskatoon on Monday. It will be their first in-person gathering since King Charles outlined the Carney government’s agenda last Tuesday in the speech from the throne.

“Through the creation of a new Major Federal Project Office, the time needed to approve a project will be reduced from five years to two; all while upholding Canada’s world-leading environmental standards and its constitutional obligations to Indigenous Peoples,” Charles said in his speech.

“The government will also strike co-operation agreements with every interested province and territory within six months to realize its goal of ‘one project, one review.’”

Akeeagok said he was “really excited” to hear those remarks.

The premier remains consistent that he has four major projects on his priority list, which he and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Jeremy Tunraluk jointly endorsed in March.

Those projects are the Grays Bay road and port project, the Qikiqtarjuaq deepsea port, the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link, and a hydroelectric project for Iqaluit.

“You look at the four projects we’ve advanced, and they’re all Inuit-led initiatives that really have been in the wishes and the vision of Inuit for decades,” Akeeagok said.

“The whole country is really looking for certainty at this moment, and I think it’s so important to ensure that all these discussions around nation building focus on the consent of the Indigenous people.”

Akeeagok described seeing growing support for those four projects in recent weeks from other premiers.

In early May, he said his fellow northern premiers gave their support. Last week, western Canadian premiers joined in. Next, Akeeagok said, he hopes to bring in more premiers and Carney.

A one-on-one meeting with Carney is not on Akeeagok’s agenda, the premier’s office says.

However, Akeeagok said he has a good relationship with Carney. He said he continues to be thankful that the prime minister made Iqaluit one of his first trips shortly after taking office in March.

Beyond Akeeagok’s wishlist of projects, there will be a lot to discuss at the meetings, including tariffs and Canadian sovereignty.

“We have the solutions here and Nunavut has the certainty in terms of really bringing forward these exciting initiatives that have been envisioned for many, many years,” he said.

“We’re looking forward to those conversations around the first ministers meeting of what we could do to fast track, whether it’s significant investments or others as well.”