Poilievre pledges to fast-track resource projects, tap into Ring of Fire

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced that a “Canada First” Conservative government would tap into Canada’s natural resources and ensure that regulatory delays no longer encumber projects.

Source: Facebook

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced that a “Canada First” Conservative government would tap into Canada’s natural resources and ensure that regulatory delays no longer encumber projects like mines, pipelines, and LNG terminals.

Poilievre has made two announcements in the past few days on resource development policy. On Wednesday, he pledged to fast-track all federal permits for the Ring of Fire within six months and commit $1 billion to road construction, connecting First Nations communities to the Ontario highway network and unlocking tens of billions of dollars in resources. Additionally, Poilievre pledged on Thursday to have “shovel-ready zones” for energy development projects.

“Unlocking the Ring of Fire will be life-changing for Northern Ontario towns and First Nation communities, galvanized by thousands of paycheques and modern infrastructure,” said Poilievre. “We could boost our economy with billions of dollars, allowing us to become less dependent on the Americans, while our allies overseas would no longer have to rely on Beijing for these metals, turning dollars for dictators into paycheques for our people.”

The Ring of Fire is located 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay and has vast deposits of chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and other critical minerals vital for technology such as electric car batteries.

Despite the economic potential of the Ring of Fire, development has been stalled for years by regulatory burdens and legal challenges over First Nations consultation under the current Liberal government.

Poilievre pledged to work with local First Nations, allowing companies investing in the Ring of Fire to pay a share of their federal corporate taxes directly to Indigenous communities.

Poilievre attacked the Liberal’s record on critical minerals, saying: “The Carney-Trudeau Liberals have known about the Ring of Fire’s massive economic potential for a decade, but didn’t approve a single road, or allow a single mine to get constructed. The Liberals did everything in their power to keep these minerals in the ground by sitting on permits for five whole years and passing Bill C-69, which makes resource projects like these very difficult, if not impossible, to get approved at all.”

The announcement comes amid heightened tensions between Canada and the U.S. over critical minerals and natural resources, fueled by tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about annexing Canada.

Trump has also said on a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham that he would prefer to deal with Liberal Mark Carney as prime minister, calling him “easier” to negotiate with than the Conservatives.

Poilievre responded in agreement with Trump’s comments on Wednesday.

“Last night, President Donald Trump endorsed Mark Carney. Why? Because, as Trump said, he’s ‘easier’ to deal with, and knows that I will be a tough negotiator and always put Canada First. Carney is weak and would cave to Trump’s demands, just like he did when he moved his company headquarters from Canada to New York City. Canadians don’t want a weak and conflicted leader. They want a strong Prime Minister who will put Canada First,” said Poilievre.

Under Poilievre’s latest proposal, the Shovel Ready Zones would attempt to remove years of bureaucratic delays for major energy and resource projects.

These zones would be identified in advance for development, undergo pre-permitting for safety and environmental standards, and be published online with a checklist of requirements for businesses to meet.

“Think of an area that is perfect for liquifying and exporting gas,” he said. “We would publish a permit online, with normal safety and environment requirements. Then, companies can come in immediately and begin building and hiring local First Nations and other Canadians to generate paycheques. This would also allow us to ship Canadian energy off to Europe, breaking European dependence on Russian gas, while turning dollars for dictators into paycheques for our people.”

When criticizing the Liberal government’s record of stalling projects he cited the cancellation of Northern Gateway, which would have allowed Alberta oil to reach Asian markets, and noted that Canada has the second slowest permitting process in the OECD, with the average mine approval taking over 17 years.

“A Common Sense Conservative Government will unleash $100s of billions of dollars in power plants, nuclear energy, mines, pipelines, data centres and much more,” he said. “You will see hard-working and talented Canadian workers going around, earning big paycheques. Welders, boilermakers, pipefitters, miners, and factory workers will be able to spend those paycheques at local businesses. The economy will boom and we will be less reliant on the Americans.”

“Only a Canada First Conservative Government will rapidly approve Ring of Fire permits and quickly repeal C-69, the anti-resource law the Liberals still have in place. Only a Conservative government will support mines, pipelines, mills, LNG plants, more ports and better export opportunities to diversify our economies and make us less dependent on the Americans. That’s what it means to put Canada First.”