A couple of quick notes for the weekend. First is that for all of the projects referred to the Major Projects Office, none have actually officially been designated a PONI (Project of National Importance), so my calling the referred projects as such is admittedly premature. But that also means that none of them have the special rules that trigger the Henry VIII Clause from the legislation, which again, leads to the same question that Althia Raj asked in her most recent column about why the rush to ram that bill through Parliament with almost no debate and little stakeholder input if they haven’t bothered to use it, nearly six months later.

The other note is that the talk about timelines remain ahistorical and nothing but wishful thinking. “We used to build big things. We built a railway in four years.” Erm, not really. This is likely a reason why most of the projects that have been referred to the MPO so far have been in the works for years is for the very reason that they’re much further along. This is likely going to be one of the death knells of Danielle Smith’s pipeline plan, which is that it’s starting from zero, and there is no way, even with the magic wand of the Henry VIII clause, that they can make it go from concept to shovels in two years.

They didn't go from "Shall we build a railway?" to a railway in four years.The CPR was a Confederation promise before 1867. Construction began in 1881.Or, actually, in 1875, when they started a section in Manitoba and northern Ontario. Which hooked up to other rails built on their own earlier.

— David Reevely (@davidreevely.bsky.social) 2025-09-14T23:17:30.293Z

There were planning, scandal, false starts, re-awarding of the contract. And not a lot of attention to, you know, Indigenous people's rights.Or working conditions, which were eventually the subject of Heritage Minute you might recall. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE3I…

— David Reevely (@davidreevely.bsky.social) 2025-09-14T23:20:55.646Z

What's the right length of time to plan and build a new high-speed rail line in 2025? I don't know.But they didn't do the entire CPR from concept to completion in four years, and I don't think we want a dead temporary foreign worker for every mile of track.

— David Reevely (@davidreevely.bsky.social) 2025-09-14T23:23:15.475Z

And then there’s Poilievre’s completely nonsense demanding that government “get out of the way,” or Ontario’s Stephen Lecce talking about the problems with federal regulations killing projects when that also relies on a very selective reading of history and what happened. Northern Gateway started planning before Harper took over, and over his nine years in power, Mr. “Get government out of the way” couldn’t get it past the finish line either (in part because they couldn’t even be arsed to live up to their own consultation process with First Nations). Nothing Poilievre is saying is true, so We The Media need to stop treating it like it’s credible.

Ukraine Dispatch

The attack on Kyiv early Friday killed six and injured dozens, along with more strikes on energy facilities. Ukraine hit the oil port at Novorossiyk the same day, suspending oil exports. Ukraine is now mass-producing interceptor drones to bolster their air defences.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney was in Montreal to help inaugurate a new light rail line.
• Carney says that while some of the PONIs announced yesterday have Indigenous buy-in, projects still need consent.
• It will take months to get details on just where the cuts are coming from in the budget, and likely won’t be known until the Main Estimates are released.
• The Coast Guard’s fleet of patrol ships are likely to be retired early because of ongoing problems, and they were never a right fit for the role they need to fill.
• Health Canada ignored expert advice on its safer supply programme for opioid users, and predictably, the programme fell apart.
• Here is more about the government getting very quiet about its climate goals as they push more resource extraction projects.
• Final carbon rebates for small businesses will be disbursed by the end of the year.
• The PBO released his take on the budget, and he has questions about how some of the capital spending is defined, and some of the range of possible shocks.
• Here are five things about the graphite mine referred to the Major Projects Office.
• The Canadian Press fact-checks the internet conspiracy theory that there is supposedly a “plan” to euthanise 15 million Canadians. (Sigh).
• Supreme Court of Canada released a pair of decisions (first, second) upholding impaired driving convictions using technical certificates for breathalysers.
• They also ruled from the bench on another case involving sexual grooming.
• Every party is playing a stupid brinksmanship game about the budget, even though it’s going to pass (but nobody wants to be the one to say how).
• Surprising nobody, several NDP leadership candidates are struggling to meet their fundraising or signature criteria.
• Ontario organisations that applied for skills funding and had low scores still got their funding, and only coincidentally did they endorse the PCs. Coincidentally!
• Danielle smith says the loss of measles elimination status is “concerning,” as though her encouraging vaccine hesitancy wasn’t a direct cause. (Seriously!)
• Naheed Nenshi has been using the same ad agency as Zohran Mamdani, and recruiting former Trudeau-era federal Liberal staffers to his office.
• John Stapleton calls out the absurdity of cancelling the wealth taxes on luxury yachts as too resource intensive, while still pursuing low-income CERB recipients.
• Rob Breakenridge points out that the Alberta government is starving Elections Alberta of resources after making them do the work of recalls and referenda.
• Supriya Dwivedi considers the lessons of Mamdani’s win in New York for progressive parties in Canada. (Rest assured, they will take the wrong ones).

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I look into the bill to restore citizenship to “Lost Canadians,” and how that was nearly watered down by the Conservatives and Bloc.

Statements from the GG and the PM on the occasion of the King's birthday. (Reminder that the official birthday of the King of Canada is celebrated on Victoria Day). #MapleCrown

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-11-14T15:43:58.681Z

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