Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says he and his Atlantic counterparts heard encouraging statements from Ottawa on Tuesday about the importance of the proposed Atlantic Loop clean energy project, but no firm financial commitment.
The estimated $ 5 billion proposal was one of the priorities discussed at a virtual meeting hosted by Houston, involving the region’s four prime ministers.
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Houston said in an interview after the meeting that Federal Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc had updated the leaders on Ottawa’s position on the Atlantic Loop, which would connect the four provinces with hydroelectricity from Quebec and Labrador.
“This is a very important project with many moving parts â € ¦ we (Atlantic Prime Ministers) are encouraged to hear only the confirmation from Minister LeBlanc that they also feel a sense of urgency and also see the importance of this project.”
Houston, however, said the minister did not give the four prime ministers a specific amount the federal government would be willing to spend on the project, which would include major upgrades to the region’s transmission systems.
“There is still work to be done on it (funding),” the prime minister said. “But in terms of their level of interest from an environmental perspective, from an economic development initiative perspective, I have every indication that they see the importance of this project just as we do.”
Houston said it hopes a kind of word on federal support will come within months, as opposed to years, given the urgency surrounding climate change.
A LeBlanc spokesman said the minister was not available for comment Tuesday.
The premiers issued a news release following the meeting, stating that the Atlantic Loop is the key to the region achieving a “clean power future”.
Houston, in particular, has placed a high priority on getting the project off the ground.
In November, he met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa to plead for federal aid, and in October he hosted a meeting to discuss the project with Nova Scotia Power officials, provincial opposition leaders and the province’s 11 members of parliament.
Houston’s Progressive Conservative government has enacted a series of environmental and climate change targets into legislation, including a new goal to phase out coal-fired electricity generation by 2030. But Houston has insisted that regional taxpayers will pay an exorbitant amount of the hefty costs of moving to cleaner energy if the Atlantic Loop is not heavily subsidized by the federal government.
Meanwhile, the Atlantic premieres also discussed the impact of the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus and the need to ensure healthcare systems can continue to deliver important services.
Immigration was also on the agenda, with prime ministers saying they want to continue working with Ottawa to find ways to address labor shortages in all four provinces. They say this includes broadening access to federal and provincial student work programs for international students.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on January 25, 2022.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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