Building Canada — But at What Cost? Lessons for Simcoe North

Prime Minister Mark Carney made headlines today in Terrace, B.C., championing what he calls a new wave of “nation-building” projects — including a massive floating LNG export terminal, Ksi Lisims, on the province’s northwest coast. The proposal, alongside upgrades like the North Coast transmission line, has been added to a federal “priority list” for the Major Projects Office — a step toward fast-tracking approvals.

But here’s the reality behind the political excitement:

• No project has been designated as “in the national interest.”

• Nothing has actually been fast-tracked — yet.

• No federal requirements or environmental protections have been waived — yet.

So what does all this mean?

The government’s efforts are currently focused on making big projects competitive: securing financing, coordinating workers, and lining up permits. These are practical steps — but the door remains open for something far more concerning. Earlier this year, Bill C-5 quietly equipped Ottawa with the power to bypass environmental review when it decides a project is important enough.

Whether that power ever gets used is a question we need answered, especially when the same government praising climate leadership on the world stage is throwing federal muscle behind new fossil fuel infrastructure at home.

What This Means for Us Here in Simcoe North

We know a thing or two about “nation-building” projects in our communities — and the impacts they carry.

In Tiny and Ramara, residents are living with the threats of aggregate pits expanded, new pits proposed, and restoration promises repeatedly broken. Local wetlands, groundwater systems, and habitats are being carved out in the name of supplying the materials that fuel development elsewhere. We understand that Canada needs infrastructure — homes, transit, renewable energy grids — and that requires aggregate.

But development can’t just be about taking. It must be:

✔ Circular — recycling materials and minimizing waste
✔ Local — prioritizing community benefit and protection
✔ Sustained — not exhausting resources faster than nature can replenish them
✔ Accountable — respecting Indigenous rights and environmental limits

Communities like ours are living proof that unchecked extraction leaves scars long after the last truck rolls away.

Development Done Right

We can and should build — but build smarter.

Carney talks about economic competitiveness. That matters. But so does the competitiveness of future generations who will rely on clean water, healthy ecosystems, and resilient local economies.

Climate leadership, if it is to mean anything, must apply not only at international summits but on the ground in places like Simcoe North.