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The Eastern Energy Partnership: Atlantic Canada's big pitch for Carney's nation-building list
The prime minister's call for proposals has stirred interest from provincial governments across the country, not least in Atlantic Canada, where premiers see a new opportunity to boost their economies and meet a growing demand for electricity.
Many of their proposals fall under the label of the Eastern Energy Partnership, which envisions the four Atlantic provinces generating more electricity and transmitting it to each other, to Quebec and to other buyers.
They range from upgrading the subsea cable between Prince Edward Island and the New Brunswick mainland — likely one of the quicker, simpler projects — to a Nova Scotia proposal to build enough offshore wind turbines to generate a quarter of Canada's electricity needs.
Winning the "project of national interest" designation gets proponents a faster regulatory review process but doesn't guarantee federal funding.
It's also not a sure thing that Ottawa will approve the Eastern Energy Partnership projects as a whole.
"I don't want the perfect to be the enemy of the good," says Nova Scotia Liberal MP Sean Fraser, the minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
"I think we have an opportunity — and in fact an obligation — to move as quickly as possible on the components of the partnership that are ready," he says.
Many of the projects face obstacles. |Read more|