Power & Politics: Exclusive interview with Prime Minister Mark Carney
Prime Minister Mark Carney sits down with Power & Politics host David Cochrane for an exclusive interview after the speech from the throne.
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CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Some Newfoundland hydrogen companies behind in bills as industry hype ‘boils off'
Hydrogen storage tanks are visible at the Iberdrola green hydrogen plant in Puertollano, Spain, on March 28, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Bernat Armangue ST. JOHN'S — Newfoundland and Labrador is owed millions of dollars in fees from green energy companies, underlining growing doubts about whether promises of major projects and multi-billion dollar investments will pan out. Six companies are vying to create new operations in the province that would use wind energy to produce hydrogen for exports overseas. Figures obtained by The Canadian Press reveal some owe a collective total of $13.7 million in fees due in 2024 for the use of Crown land. Russell Williams, an associate political science professor at Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., said he's not surprised the companies have land fees outstanding. 'I think it highlights the extent to which the public should be skeptical about megaprojects, and about governments getting very carried away, very early, with the idea that there are huge benefits from these kinds of natural resource developments,' Williams said in a recent interview. However, the province insists the money will be collected. 'The provincial government has not written off any outstanding Crown land reserve fees and expects to collect all revenue owing for these fees,' said an emailed statement from Steve Crocker, minister of industry, energy and technology. The industry began paying the fees after the provincial government invited companies to bid on Crown land to use for wind energy projects in December 2022. By paying the fees, the companies have the option to lease the land if they choose to move forward with projects. But it's not clear which developments will proceed even though the companies have now reserved roughly 3,944 square kilometres of Crown land. Executives from the six companies told an energy conference in St. John's, N.L., last week that it's been tough to find buyers on the overseas market to make their projects viable. Some companies said they were considering other options in the meantime, including an anticipated call for renewable energy for the local grid in Newfoundland and Labrador. 'In 2021, 2022 the world thought everything was going to be running on hydrogen,' Karlis Povisils, with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, told reporters during the conference. 'I think the hype has boiled off, and that's a healthy thing. The players that are left are the ones that are serious and committed.' The companies owed a collective total of about $22.1 million in Crown land reserve fees for 2024, Crocker said. The province collected just $8.4 million, according to figures obtained through access to information legislation. In 2023, the province received $5,491,316 in Crown land reserve fees — exactly the amount it was owed, the department confirmed. Only three of the six companies confirmed to the Canadian Press their fees were up to date: North Atlantic, Pattern Energy, and the Exploits Valley Renewable Energy Corporation, or EVREC. Other companies weren't as clear. A spokesperson for World Energy GH2, which proposed a $16-billion wind-powered hydrogen operation in western Newfoundland, said the company has paid 'millions' in Crown land reserve fees. She did not confirm if it had paid all of its fees for 2024. 'We continue to reserve Crown lands, and incur fees related to our reservation, and will continue to service our obligations,' Laura Barron said in an email. A spokesperson for EverWind, which has proposed wind-to-hydrogen projects in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, said the company has paid $5.6 million in reserve fees, 'but we cannot comment further as we are in ongoing land reservation discussions with the province.' EverWind Fuels is one of two companies that have asked the province to reduce the amount of land held in reserve for its proposed development. Using the reduced land reserve, the company would have owed more than $8 million in 2024. ABO Energy, which is working with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners on a project in eastern Newfoundland, has also reduced its Crown land reserve. The company said it is working with the government 'to ensure compliance' with reserve fee conditions. 'And indeed, we are working to create the ecosystem that this nascent industry demands,' said spokesperson Heidi Kirby in an email. Tom Cooper, a business professor at Memorial University, said forgoing the land fees could be a way for the province to fund the developments, 'without handing over hard cash.' Williams added that the fees are quite small compared to the cost of some of the projects. He worries the provincial government undervalued its resources and got swept up in 'pie-in-the-sky' promises of megaprojects that would produce jobs. 'One of the things that always gets lost in those calculations is the public interest,' Williams said. 'The public interest here is what kind of royalties and revenues was the province going to get ... and it looks like, unless something changes, the benefits are tiny and in arrears.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2025. Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
G7 will be a success if Trump ‘doesn't have an eruption,' experts say
PM Mark Carney's G7 invites to the leaders of Saudi Arabia and India is dividing members of the Liberal caucus. Judy Trinh on the the reasons for concern. Mark Carney's ability to balance Canada's economic agenda while promoting its democratic values will be tested at the upcoming G7 summit after he expanded the invitation list to nations implicated in international murders. The prime minister ignored questions from reporters about why he was inviting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Kananaskis, Alta., as he walked into Question Period on Wednesday But earlier in the day, MP Sukh Dhaliwal, who represents the B.C. riding of Surrey-Newton, says he met with Carney and told him that hundreds of people had voiced concerns that Modi was attending the G7, due to being linked to an 'assassination of a Canadian on Canadian soil.' 'We're a country of human rights. A country of law and justice,' Dhaliwal said in an interview on CTV's Power Play, adding that he reminded Carney that during the public inquiry into foreign interference, Justice Marie-Josee Hogue found that China and India were the two biggest nations interfering in Canada's democratic processes. The relationship between Canada and India has been strained since the RCMP revealed that it had credible information that government agents of India were involved in the 2023 murder of a Sikh-Canadian in Surrey, B.C. The victim, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, supported the Khalistan movement, which promotes a Sikh separatist state. Dhaliwal said Carney 'clearly' assured him that he will 'be strong and raise these concerns' with Modi during their bilateral meetings at the G7. So far, Canadian police say they've received little help from Indian authorities in their investigation, but Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi says high-level engagement could improve relations. According to data from the International Monetary Fund, India is the world's fourth largest economy. 'We want to make sure those investigations are taking place, and they're independent of the government when it comes to matters of law enforcement,' Naqvi said. 'It's also really important that, at this moment in time, when so much is changing around the world, that we do engage in a large economy like India.' 'Very big investor' Carney's invitation to Saudi Arabia is also raising eyebrows. In 2018, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) concluded that bin Salman had ordered the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi a year earlier. Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi government, was dismembered after walking into the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, Turkiye, to pick up marriage documents. Roland Paris, director of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, told CTV News that Carney understands that he needs to talk to countries that Canada has a difficult relationship with in order to further his economic goals. While bin Salman is an 'unsavoury actor,' Paris says the crown prince has considerable resources that could be invested in Carney's nation-building projects. 'One of the issues that Prime Minister Carney wants to really push at this meeting is catalyzing private investment for infrastructure around the world - and the Saudis, especially through their sovereign wealth fund, is a very big investor,' Paris said. The crown prince also has warm relations with U.S. President Donald Trump. Last month, Saudi Arabia signed a pact to invest US$600 billion in the United States after Trump visited the Gulf state. Paris notes when Italy hosted the G7 last year, it also invited Saudi Arabia, but the crown prince did not attend. So far, the Saudis have not confirmed if they will accept Carney's invitation. Zachary Paikin, a senior fellow with The Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, says that Saudi Arabia is gaining influence as a regional power and mediator. In March, the Saudis brought Ukrainian and Russian delegations to Jeddah to embark on peace talks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be at the G7 and will be seeking a bilateral meeting with Trump. Carney's invitation to bin Salman could facilitate further peace talks. Carney's G7 objectives Paikin says Canada risks becoming marginalized on the global stage unless it is willing to engage with countries it disagrees with. 'To put it very frankly, the overwhelming majority of the world's governments and peoples do not share the values and worldview of the liberal, capitalist democratic West,' Paikin told CTV News in a zoom interview from Geneva, Switzerland. 'When Canada isolates itself, it puts itself at the mercy of Donald Trump, and we cannot afford that if we want to preserve our status as a sovereign, proud and independent country.' Even though the U.S. has launched a trade war with much of the world, Paris expects the prime minister will strive to find areas of 'commonality and progress' on his key priorities, such as combating transnational crime, strengthening access to critical minerals and energy security, along with improving joint responses to wildfires. A clearer framework outlining Canada's future economic and security relationship with the U.S. could also come into focus in bilateral meetings. Paris says the success of this summit will depend a lot on managing the unpredictability of the American president. 'This will be a successful meeting if Donald Trump doesn't have an eruption that disrupts the entire gathering,' Paris said. 'Anything above and beyond that is gravy.' The last time Canada hosted a G7 was in 2018, during the first Trump administration. Talks fell apart in Charlevoix, Que., and the U.S. president left without signing the final communique.
Ottawa Citizen
2 hours ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Today's letters: It's time to upgrade the dress code, not just the pay, for Canada's military
Military sometimes scruffy and unkempt Article content Article content With the Mark Carney government announcing its intention to increase defence spending, through not only new equipment but also pay raises and bonuses, perhaps now is the time to drop the Trudeau-era relaxed dress regulations, which allow for both long hair and beards often seen on the troops meeting with the prime minister. Article content Article content Introduced as an attempt to attract new recruits, the relaxed dress regulations have taken what was once a professional-looking, clean-shaven and well groomed military into a force that looks scruffy and unkempt — hardly a look that inspires confidence in a military that is not only tasked with defending the nation but is often the international face of Canada. Article content City council has many challenges, and one recently revealed was the state of its aging infrastructure, from water mains and sewers, to fire equipment to aquatic facilities. A city staff report on the city's Asset Management Plans estimates that over the next 10 years, a $10.8-billion gap is forecasted between projected infrastructure needs and planned funding. These forecasted needs reflect asset renewal, growth, service enhancements and climate change adaptation and mitigation costs. That's a lot of money. Article content Article content More than 40 per cent ($4.8 billion) relate to water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. Just over one-third of this will be paid for by debt, the rest through water rate charges. The mayor calls this 'good debt.' (This leads me to question the $331 million of new debt for Lansdowne 2.0, but I digress.) Article content Article content The remaining $6-billion funding gap is for such city assets as arenas, swimming pools, fire stations and equipment, etc. For example, the average age of the city's aquatic facilities is 40 years, and more than one-third of them are listed in poor or very poor condition. The average age for arenas and ice rinks is 45 years, with more than 14 per cent in poor or very poor condition. We have already seen the closure of the Belltown Dome arena due to aging equipment. These issues are not going away. Article content So where is the $6 billion over the next 10 years needed to keep our facilities going? The report is silent about this but obviously the bulk will be from taxes. Council may want to consider imposing a specific, dedicated levy to fund these infrastructure needs. Most people want to see the city's facilities maintained and expect council will make the necessary investment.
