After the Port of Churchill, Manitoba premier is eyeing another major project going north

The federal government is no stranger to the project, having already spent millions for the development stages and environmental fieldwork for it to move forward.

Since 2021, Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link has been mentioned in three consecutive federal budgets, has been consistently recommended for federal support by the House of Commons finance committee, and has been mentioned in different reports, said Audouin.

However, she admits that the project is expensive, with a price tag now estimated at more than $3 billion. While it has the support of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, which would fund part of the project, the rest of the funding — private equity and tax credits — is still uncertain.

Audouin said “everything’s pointing to the fact” that the hydro-fibre link project could end up on the government’s major projects list and expressed hope it would help secure the rest of the financing.

“Being on that list would probably actually attract capital because now you’ve got the backing of the federal government identifying you as a project that’s worthy of proceeding. If anything, it props you up as a project,” said Audouin in a recent interview.

“Until they release the list, it’s anybody’s guess,” she said.

Speaking in Berlin on Wednesday, Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said the government’s new major projects office — which will be the main point of contact to help fast-track those priority initiatives — will be launched by the end of the week.

“Today is Wednesday, so it’ll either be Thursday or Friday,” he said in a press conference.

Hodgson, however, declined to say who would oversee this office and if the government already has a list of major projects ready to go. The Privy Council Office (PCO) also did not respond to the National Post’s questions on appointments and the list as of deadline.

Carney revealed during his travels to Europe this week that his government would be formally announcing investments with respect to new port infrastructure in the next two weeks — notably the expansion of the Port of Montreal and the Port of Churchill.

Carney specifically singled out the Port of Churchill, which he said could “potentially” unlock pathways to ship liquified natural gas and critical minerals to Europe. Kinew said his phone “blew up” as soon as the prime minister mentioned the project on Tuesday.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he was “glad” that Carney had noticed his proposal to develop the Port of Churchill, more than three years after he proposed it, but expressed skepticism that this expansion project would actually see the light of day.

“What I find incredible is that he has been in power for 170 days and not only is there not a single shovel in the ground on any of these projects, there are not even firm proposals for these projects,” said Poilievre, who was speaking from Charlottetown, P.E.I.

“It’s more Liberal show business rather than getting it done.”

National Post [email protected]

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.