Friday marks one year since the Building Canada Act received Royal Assent, yet not a single “nation-building” project has been approved under the legislation. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise to build at speeds not seen in generations has so far yielded no tangible results.
Three projects announced, but no construction
On Wednesday, the Liberal government announced it was moving forward with three “major projects” of national interest under the act. However, the announcement only initiates the process to potentially list the projects, not actual construction. Energy Minister Tim Hodgson acknowledged that to many Canadians, this “probably sounds like a lot of jargon.”
Critics argue it sounds like nothing is getting done—just more bureaucracy and paperwork. The Building Canada Act was rushed through Parliament with Conservative support after Carney promised to build “nation-building infrastructure on a scale and at speeds not seen in generations.” Instead, the process remains stuck in neutral.
The Mackenzie Valley Highway: decades in the making
The first project highlighted is the Mackenzie Valley Highway, an 800-kilometre all-season gravel road connecting remote communities currently reliant on airplanes, river barges, or winter roads. While a worthwhile project, it has been a “strategic priority” for Canada since 1958, according to the Government of the Northwest Territories. Since 2018, $140 million has been allocated for environmental assessment and planning studies, yet environmental assessment is still ongoing. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon confirmed on Wednesday that further environmental assessment work is needed.
Grays Bay Road and Port: five iterations in 30 years
The second project is the Grays Bay Road and Port, a proposed 230-kilometre all-season road from the Nunavut border to a deepwater port and airfield on the Arctic Ocean. According to a policy paper by the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network, this project has undergone five iterations in the last thirty years.
Carney’s rhetoric vs. reality
Carney has often boasted about the St. Lawrence Seaway, which took just five years from concept to completion. “These were some of the nation-building projects of our past… They represent much of how we will build again,” he said a year ago. He called the Building Canada Act “very, very important” and “especially consequential,” promising to “build big, build bold, build now.” One year later, nothing has been built.
The third project announced on Wednesday was not detailed in the article, but the pattern remains consistent: environmental reviews and bureaucratic hurdles continue to delay progress, undermining the prime minister’s bold promises.
