The Honourable John Hogan, KC, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, joined Canada’s Premiers for important discussions with the Prime Minister at a First Ministers’ Meeting in Huntsville on Tuesday, July 22.

While in Huntsville, Premier Hogan also had one-on-one meetings with Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Mark Carney, and with the Premier of Quebec, the Honourable François Legault. Prime Minister Carney and Premier Hogan discussed ways in which the Federal Government can assist Newfoundland and Labrador in advancing projects of national interest, such as Bay du Nord and developments on the Churchill River. Premier Hogan also raised the Prime Minister’s commitment to reduce fees for Marine Atlantic.

Premier Hogan and Premier Legault discussed the memorandum of understanding on the Churchill River and their shared commitment to finalize definitive agreements, which will bring immediate benefits to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. This includes thousands of jobs, over $225 billion in new revenue, and increased power capacity.

First Ministers’ Meeting
Canada’s Premiers are working together to defend and promote Canadian interests. This includes bolstering national security, defending Arctic sovereignty, supporting trade diversification, responding to tariffs, advancing projects of national interest, developing economic corridors, and enhancing energy security.

Emergency Management and Wildfires
This year’s wildfires across Canada are top of mind for Premiers who expressed concerns for everyone impacted. Premiers highlighted the importance of collaboration and resource sharing among governments to prepare for the growing frequency and impact of these fires, including the need for enhanced planning, preparedness, mitigation, and recovery support for different types of emergency events. Premiers emphasized the need for adequate and flexible federal funding to support provincial and territorial community planning, preparedness, adaptation, and mitigation in response to and recovery from climate change impacts. Premiers noted the proposal by Canada’s fire chiefs to establish a national fire administration and have tasked provincial and territorial ministers responsible for emergency management to consider the proposal.

Building Canada
Premiers are taking action to build a stronger and more secure Canada by advancing projects of national interest that will unleash the full potential of Canada’s economy.

It is critical to Canada’s economy that major projects are built quickly and responsibly. Premiers welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to ensuring all federal assessment decisions are rendered within two years and insist the “one project, one review” process must eliminate overlap and duplication and defer to provincial and territorial jurisdictions and processes. Federal project approval processes must also address ongoing issues including with the federal Impact Assessment Act, the Coasting Trade Act, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission hearings, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. They also agreed that major projects must be done in consultation with Indigenous peoples with opportunities for equity partnerships and benefit all provincial and territorial economies.

While prioritizing major projects, the federal government must also work with provinces and territories to provide a new specific envelope of predictable, adequate, and flexible federal infrastructure funding that can address unique provincial and territorial infrastructure pressures. Expanded funding is also needed for housing and housing-enabling infrastructure. Premiers call on the federal government to commit to early engagement with provinces and territories on future infrastructure and housing programs.

Premiers are dedicated to working alongside the Prime Minister in positioning Canada as a global energy superpower. Provinces and territories are able to meet growing domestic and international demand with energy, critical minerals, and other resources that are responsibly produced to high sustainability and ethical standards. Canada’s energy landscape is diverse and includes oil and gas, liquified natural gas, uranium, renewable electricity, and hydroelectricity, as well as emerging opportunities such as onshore and offshore wind power, hydrogen, biofuels, small modular and large-scale nuclear reactors, and critical minerals. Developing pipelines and corridors that can get energy, oil and gas, electricity, critical minerals and other products to market within the country and to ports connected to tidewater, including to key Asian and European markets, will strengthen energy security and drive economic growth. This must be done while ensuring impacted provinces and territories experience direct economic and social benefits from these projects to the satisfaction of the province or territory concerned.

This is also an opportunity for Canada to further strengthen sustainable Arctic defence and sovereignty, coordinated with provincial and territorial governments and Indigenous partners, that will address the acknowledged infrastructure gap in the North. Premiers are united that federal actions related to Arctic security and sovereignty must be done with northerners and Indigenous peoples and directly benefit the communities in which they live. Premiers continue to emphasize the benefit and importance of dual-use infrastructure in this area. Investments made in Arctic sovereignty are investments made for the security of all Canadians.

Premiers commended the Prime Minister on joining the new NATO Defence Investment Pledge of 5 per cent of GDP to broaden defense and security related spending and the commitment to achieve 2 per cent of GDP for core defence spending by the end of this year. This is a critical opportunity to invest in Canada’s industrial base, natural resources, and dual-use infrastructure. Premiers identified federal investment opportunities that will create new and good-paying jobs across the country and contribute to a made-in-Canada defence industry.

U.S. Relations and International Trade
Premiers support a Team Canada approach to develop a new economic and security relationship with the U.S. They continue to call for the removal of the unjustified and unpredictable tariffs imposed by the U.S. government, including longstanding softwood lumber duties, auto tariffs and levies on Canadian steel and aluminum. Premiers stressed the importance of a strong economic partnership underscored by the mutual benefits of free trade between Canada and the U.S.

Premiers also call on the federal government to prioritize work towards the removal of Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola, peas, pork, and seafood and emphasized the critical importance of regular and ongoing engagement with China to improve the overall trade relationship.

In order to ensure no region of the country is disproportionately impacted by federal responses to U.S. tariffs and that impacted workers and businesses receive appropriate and immediate federal supports, Premiers call on the federal government to engage meaningfully and work with provinces and territories in designing federal supports. This includes ensuring federal duties that have been or will be collected are distributed to workers and industries affected by ongoing or new trade disputes.

Premiers remain committed to taking action within their jurisdictions and working alongside the federal government to support advocacy with U.S. leaders and officials. Premiers call on the federal government to fully partner with provinces and territories in the upcoming CUSMA review and economic and security negotiations, as well as on future engagement opportunities with the U.S.

To ensure Canada’s economic resilience, Premiers are taking action to diversify Canada’s economy and expand and broaden trading relationships. Premiers discussed opportunities to expand trade, including in the Indo-Pacific region, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. The federal government must ensure provinces and territories are meaningfully engaged so that their interests and priorities, including provincial-territorial jurisdiction over natural resources, protecting cultural distinctiveness, and safekeeping supply management in the agricultural sector, are fully represented in current and future trade negotiations.

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