Feds urged to act now to develop economic corridors

By George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Canada united by economic corridors operating coast-to-coast-to-coast would pay dividends to rural and remote Alberta, a UCP cabinet minister said Friday from Quebec City.

But Devin Dreeshen added that his vision needs action from the federal government to foster cross-country cooperation and correct past and ongoing wrongs.

Attending a conference of provincial and territorial transportation ministers, Dreeshen said that Canadians need improved market access within and beyond their country’s borders. It’s a situation made more urgent by President Donald Trump’s talk of tariffs, said Dreeshen, Alberta’s minister of transportation and economic corridors.

Increased natural resource royalties would mean more money is available to improve the lives of rural Albertans, he said. Undiscounted sales of oil and gas would also generate spinoff industry, private enterprise investment and increased lease income.

“I think we’ve done as good a job as any government has done to direct investments into rural Alberta,” said Dreeshen, the member for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake. “And that’s something we will continue to do. We have to invest in infrastructure that allows people in rural Alberta to live safely and comfortably, and to be proud of where they’re from.”

His comments followed his issuing of a statement and an open letter outlining steps the federal government should take “to strengthen Canada’s economic corridors and supply chains.”

Addressed to federal Transport and Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand, the letter says: “Canada’s wealth is based on its success as a trading nation. Canada is blessed with immense resources spread across a vast country. It has succeeded as a small, open economy with an enviable standard of living that has been able to provide what the world needs.”

His appeal points to earlier projects like the completion of a cross-country railway and the Trans-Canada highway as examples of working together for common interests. That kind of focus and agility needs a modern equivalent, the documents say.

“With the uncertainty of U.S. tariffs looming over our country and province, Canada needs to take bold action to revitalize the productivity and competitiveness of its economy — going east to west and not always relying on north-south trade,” Dreeshen wrote. “There’s no better time than right now to politically derisk these projects.”

The feds need to create an economic corridor agency, streamline regulation and increase funding for trade-oriented infrastructure like roads, pipelines and ports. The agency would “identify and maintain economic corridors across provincial boundaries, with meaningful consultation with both Indigenous groups and industry.”

Recommended actions also include “adjusting the policy levers that support productivity and competitiveness,” including a revisitation of federal support of airports — especially in Canada’s less populated regions.

The announcements fell the morning after about 10.7 million Canadians watched their hockey team win the Four Nations Face-Off finale by defeating the U.S. in overtime.

Both countries were primed for their championship showdown by boos of national anthems, an earlier game between the two teams that featured three fights in its first nine seconds on the game clock, and Donald Trump’s musings about annexing the U.S.’s second-largest trading partner and turning it into a 51st state.

Another backdrop for Dreeshen’s calls to action is a Liberal leadership contest that will see a new prime minister chosen before Parliament convenes March 24.

Regardless of political and economic turmoil, the time to act is now, Dreeshen said. He spoke of wires and hydroelectric power crossing the country from Quebec, pipelines through Alberta, and “any combination” of road, rail and utilities better serving the country.

“We hope the federal government takes this seriously, to realize that if we are going to build these types of projects across the country, we need to politically derisk them. And It can’t just be one province or a couple provinces doing it,” he said.

Some pieces are in place in the West. In April 2023, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba signed an agreement to collaborate on joint trade infrastructure networks. And in July last year Alberta signed a similar agreement with the Northwest Territories, which could lead to tidewater access in the Arctic.

Dreeshen said: “Even B.C., with an NDP government, sees the importance of economic corridors and being able to get products to tidewater. So I’m hopeful that other provinces will be receptive to the creation of an economic corridor agency.”

He added: “From the conversations we’ve been having over the last two days, there does seem to be a renewed interest in building projects east west rather than having most of our trade going north-south.”

But his announcement says provinces and territories can’t unclog trade by themselves. “The federal government must play its part to advance the economic corridors that we need from coast to coast to coast to support our economic future. It is time for immediate action.”

Despite a plea for less red tape and the repealing or amending of the federal Impact Assessment Act, Dreeshen said building corridors can and should be carried out in an environmentally friendly way.

“Whether it’s our provincial environmental regulations or federal regulations, we have the best in the world. They are the most stringent. We should just be able to follow them in a timely manner,” said Dreeshen.

“So I don’t think the debate is whether we loosen or change environmental regulations. I think we just need to follow them but do it in a manner that doesn’t scare away investment — we’ve essentially been ending these projects due to decades of delay.”

He added: “Obviously we want to build things in an environmentally sustainable way, because this is our country and we’re proud of it.”