A federally appointed panel is urging the four Atlantic provinces to create a single electricity market, a central part of its wider call for a “One Atlantic Canada” approach to regional growth.
In a report released Friday, the Atlantic Economic Panel proposes an independent operator to plan and manage a power market spanning New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Appointed by Ottawa last November, the seven-member panel of business leaders argues that the provinces need to plan together to compete for investment and make the most of rising defence spending and proposed energy and resource projects.
The panel calls for a single federal-provincial review of major projects, a regional strategy to train, recruit and retain workers to fill an estimated 441,000 jobs by 2035, and a $1-billion fund to help Atlantic companies expand. It urges the provinces to pursue defence contracts together and co-ordinate investment in ports, shipbuilding and ocean industries.
Recent population growth has strained housing and infrastructure, employers are struggling to find skilled workers, and Atlantic Canada’s labour productivity has fallen further behind the national average.
The report calls for the provinces to make a joint case to Ottawa for immigration levels tied to their labour needs, while improving training and making credentials easier to recognize across provincial borders. It also sets a goal of retaining 80 per cent of newcomers for at least five years, up from just over half now.
Sean Fraser, the federal minister who appointed the panel, said Ottawa has been discussing a regional electricity grid with the provinces for months, although the federal government’s role and any funding remain to be negotiated.
“All four provinces are sending representatives, and I’ve spoken with my counterparts in each of the different provinces who all have signalled directionally their support for what the panel is recommending,” he said. Decisions about how their grids would connect would require further talks.
Electricity runs through many of the panel’s ambitions, said Don Mills, the panel’s chair. New mines and industries will need reliable power, and the provinces face costly decisions about which generating stations and transmission lines to build first.
The current patchwork of provincial electricity plans leaves no single body to weigh which major power projects should take priority for the region as a whole.
The proposed regional independent system operator would co-ordinate planning, investment, system operations, the allocation of costs and electricity flows between provinces. The provincial governments would need to agree on how to share costs and benefits, and change laws and regulations to support a common market.
The panel proposes a fund to spread the cost of regional projects over time and help mobilize more than $25-billion in electricity infrastructure investment by 2035. It says federal financing should depend on the provinces adopting an integrated electricity strategy.
For major projects, the panel calls for federal and provincial authorities to conduct one co-ordinated review, cutting decision times by at least half and setting a maximum 24-month approval period for nationally significant projects.
Mr. Mills said the panel had considered its two-year target ambitious when it settled on the recommendation – before Ottawa proposed a shorter federal timeline earlier this week. Whether the two proposals would cover the same approvals remains unclear, he said.
“It’s been so challenging in our region to get approvals. We thought ours was an aggressive move, and if what the federal government has done leads the provinces to agree, that would be great.”
The group’s wider targets for 2035 include a population of more than three million, up from about 2.7 million; twice as many businesses exporting internationally; $100-billion in new investment to develop the region’s energy, natural resources and ocean industries; and a doubling of the value of processing in resource sectors, to $8-billion from $4-billion.
As governments try to speed up approvals, Indigenous communities should help shape energy projects from the outset, with opportunities for equity ownership and shared governance where appropriate, the panel says.
Terry Richardson, chief of New Brunswick’s Pabineau First Nation and a panel member, said First Nations must have a chance to shape major projects and share in the opportunities they create.
“There’s gotta be ground rules set before you even look at development, and those ground rules are First Nation engagement and First Nation opportunity,” said Mr. Richardson, who has worked on agreements between his community and mining companies.
“As soon as you’ve got the concept, as soon as you’re looking at it, start engaging,” he said.
The panel’s recommendations would require the provinces and Ottawa to work together on electricity, project approvals, immigration and investment. Mr. Fraser said the federal government would take part as “an equal partner.”
“We are not doing this for the provinces. We are doing this with the provinces,” he said.