The federal government has announced $33 million in spending for projects that will bolster Canada's supply chain in British Columbia and Alberta.
Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Transport Minister Anita Anand said the investment was planned before Donald Trump declared his trade war with Canada, but that recent developments have made it more important than ever.
Of the total amount, $10 million went to the Canadian National Railway Company, $6.2 million went to the NSD Development Corporation, $5.7 went to Battle River Railway NGC Inc., $3.5 million went to Quasar Platform Inc., $2.7 million went to IntermodeX Logistics Ltd., and $5 million went to Richardson International.
"The west coast as a whole is a gateway for Canada's supply chains," Anand said during a press conference at the Richardson container terminal in North Vancouver on Wednesday. "At this moment in time, when we see increased protectionism from the US and around the world, it has never been more important for us to utilize the gateway that Vancouver stands for, the gateway that the west coast as a whole stands for."
Wilkinson explained that the investment would "strengthen regional connectivity, and make the movement of materials and goods more fluent and efficient."
Both Wilkinson and Anand emphasized the need for Canada to make moves not solely through the lens of combatting the Trump tariffs, saying "it is also critically important that we are reflecting on and acting on the need to ensure Canada is more resilient going forward."
Absent from the discussion of improvements to the supply chain in BC and Alberta were pipelines. When asked by the Western Standard whether he foresaw a situation in which Canada would approve new pipelines to allow our oil to reach new markets without having to go through the US, Wilkinson said no such projects were on the table.
"Certainly the questions going forward — even if tariffs don't come into play — as to whether we can be as reliant on the US as we have been over the past number of decades is a broad thing," he said. "It's about international trade barriers, internal trade barriers, it's about deepening external markets, it's about ports and railways, but its also about energy infrastructure."
Wilkinson noted that as of now, the vast majority of natural gas and oil is shipped to the US, with the Trans Mountain Pipeline the only outlet to the ocean, and that Ontario is reliant on a pipeline that travels south of the border.
"With respect to oil that's a conversation that Canadians are going to need to have," he continued. "There are no projects on the table at the present time. There are no proponents of projects on the table at the present time.
Wilkinson said premiers would undoubtedly be talking with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about oil, but that it was essential that any discussions include indigenous communities and centre around "social acceptability."
Wilkinson said there were a "range of ways in which we can think about addressing the vulnerabilities that we have," citing LNG Canada 1, the wood fibre facility in Northern BC, and LNG Canada 2. A decision on the latter is set to be announced in the coming months.