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Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says his goal is to help make Canada the NATO partner of choice when it comes to supplying critical minerals as defence becomes a focus for many countries.
Refining is the “name of the game” and Canada can do better than just shipping those high-demand materials south in their raw form, Champagne told a Calgary business audience Monday, almost a week after he delivered the latest federal budget.
“Exploration, extraction is something. But what we need is refining. That’s the key,” he said.
Minerals like titanium, used to make submarines, are crucial to defence initiatives, he added.
The budget released last Tuesday outlines a plan for a $2 billion “critical minerals sovereign fund” over five years for equity investments, loan guarantees and offtake agreements.
Critical minerals are becoming “decisive” to the competitiveness of countries, Champagne said.
“If we left it entirely to the market, I’m not sure we would meet the moment.”
On energy, Champagne said “mentalities are changing” around developing oil and gas resources and ensuring they can get to market.
“The fact that the prime minister changed the tone to talk about an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy, I think has really changed how people perceive these things,” Champagne said.
“They understand today the nexus between economic security, energy security and national security.”
He said Canada needs to “get its act together” on ensuring regulations don’t hold such projects back and that there’s much more work to be done on boosting its productivity.
“I think we have done a course correction now,” Champagne said. “I think people have found a new confidence that this is a serious government that wants to do serious things, that is serious about growth and investment.”
Deborah Yedlin, president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, said there were some welcome elements in the budget, like a signal that a cap on industrial carbon emissions will be scrapped.
But she said questions remain.
“It’s one thing to say that we’re looking at ways to increase investment, but we really need to deal with the regulatory challenges,” she said.
“The energy sector, I think, is encouraged. We have a prime minister, we have a finance minister talking about Canada being an energy superpower. We have not had that rhetoric in Canada for a long time.”