Conservatives meeting economic needs, aspirations of all Canada’s regions

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced new steps to unleash the potential of Canada’s North in the best interests of the country and those who live, work and support their families there.

“As people and businesses in the North adapt to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie before them, the Conservative Party is determined that the government will adapt with them,” said the Prime Minister. “We are committed to ensuring that regional development meets the economic needs and aspirations of all Canada’s regions.”

Joined by Conservative candidate Leona Aglukkaq as he spoke to community leaders and residents in Iqaluit, the Prime Minister announced that a re-elected Conservative Government will:

• Establish a new stand-alone regional development agency for Northern Canada, bringing together existing northern development activities into one focused agency with one focused vision: a prosperous future for those who call the North home.
• Establish a satellite office in the North to specialize in dealing with the unique challenges of Northern projects, as recommended by the Major Projects Management Office created by the Conservative Government.
• Improve the regulatory process for Northern natural resource projects, as recommended by The Road to Improvement, a report commissioned by our Government.

Canada’s success in the next century depends on the ability to create the right conditions for flourishing Northern development that properly balance the importance of growth with our responsibility to keep the North pristine for future generations. After decades of watching others take our Arctic for granted, the Conservative Government took action to defend it and invest in it. These initiatives represent a fundamental pillar of our Arctic agenda and will provide the foundation for a prosperous, certain future for individuals and families in the North.

“The promise of our Arctic lies in the potential of its vastness, in the opportunities afforded to its people and in the foresight of those with a vision to lead,” Prime Minister Harper said. “There is today a new imagination for our True North strong and free. And our government will work to ensure that the people of this place will realize all that imagination holds.”

BACKGROUNDER

UNLEASHING THE POTENTIAL OF CANADA’S NORTH

The Issue

The North is the greatest and most unique asset that Canada possesses. Its vast horizons, natural beauty and cultural heritage are at the core of our national identity. Equally importantly, its rich natural resources will grow our economy and sustain us for generations. Canada’s success in the next century depends on our ability to create the right conditions for flourishing Northern development, ones that properly balance the importance of growth with our responsibility to keep it pristine for future generations.

Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, developing the potential of Canada’s North has been a major priority. Since 2006, we have taken steps, including:

• Committing to purchase new Arctic offshore patrol ships and a new polar class icebreaker (to be named after the Rt. Hon. John G. Diefenbaker).
  
• Building a deep-water Arctic docking and refuelling facility in Nanisivik.
  
• Building a new commercial harbour in Pangnirtung to promote the Nunavut fishery.
  
• Strengthening the Territorial Financing Formula.
  
• Increasing the Northern Residents Deduction by over $500 to $6022[1].
  
• Providing $100 million over the next five years for geological mapping focused on Canada’s North and our polar continental shelf.

Despite this progress, we have merely begun a generation-long effort to open and develop the riches of Canada’s North. To fulfill the potential, northern development requires better coordination and more efficient and effective regulation. Current development and regulatory structures in the North are overly complex and often are major barriers to growth. Insufficient development support, unnecessary red tape, poor intergovernmental coordination and excessive approval delays are preventing Canadians, especially Northern Canadians, from reaping the full benefits of our great territory. We need substantial reform to prevent the opportunities afforded by our Northern resources from passing us by.

That’s why Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party undertook the Northern Regulatory Improvement Initiative in November 2007. By making regulation across the North more effective and predictable, we will better equip the North to develop and benefit from its resources in the best way possible. As a first step, on July 17, 2008, Special Representative Neil McCrank released The Road to Improvement, a report presenting 23 recommendations for fixing our Northern regulatory regime.

But that’s just the beginning. The next steps are to:

• Establish a new stand-alone regional development agency for Northern Canada, bringing together existing northern development activities into one focused agency with one focused vision: a prosperous future for those who call the North home.
• Establish a satellite office in the North to specialize in dealing with the unique challenges of Northern projects, as recommended by the Major Projects Management Office created by the Conservative Government.
• Improve the regulatory process for Northern natural resource projects, as recommended by The Road to Improvement, a report our Government commissioned.

A re-elected Conservative Government led by Stephen Harper will get this work done.

The Plan

A re-elected Conservative government led by Stephen Harper will establish a new stand-alone regional development agency to cover Northern Canada, consolidating existing northern development activities from Indian and Northern Affairs and other federal departments into one agency. The North needs its own development agency, just like the agencies that already serve the Western provinces, Northern Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Our new Northern Development Agency will make federal development work in the North more effective.

We will continue to implement the recommendations from the McCrank Report, “The Road to Improvement,” under the Northern Regulatory Improvement Initiative. These recommendations will significantly improve the regulation of Northern natural resource projects, including process simplification, increased transparency, greater consistency and reduced administrative costs.

As an immediate step from among the report’s recommendations, we will open a satellite Major Projects Management Office in the North to serve as a single point of entry and contact for project developers and improve coordination between regulatory bodies (federal, territorial, Aboriginal). The Major Projects Management Office, first proposed by our Government in Budget 2007 to improve oversight, accountability and collaboration throughout the stages of federal project review for major natural resource projects, is now open and receiving stakeholder praise.[2] We will now apply its growing expertise to the unique challenge of Northern development.

The Choice

13 years of Liberal Government left our North without an independent development agency, and with regulatory practices that the Mining Association of Canada describes as “costly, cumbersome, independent and unfair.”[3] But instead of proposing a plan to unleash our great Northern potential, Stéphane Dion proposes to impose a carbon tax specifically designed to punish Northerners for essential needs – transportation fuel, home heating oil, shipped goods and more.

Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party. The True North, strong and free.