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Summary<\/p>\n
In briefing notes, officials with Canada\u2019s natural resources department compared a federal office to a White House council tasked with stewarding energy projects forward.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s Major Projects Office is meant to speed up developments including natural gas and mining.<\/p>\n
A First Nations leader noted Canada\u2019s different constitutional framework, while environmental experts and advocates cautioned against following Trump\u2019s push for \u201cenergy dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s special office for speeding up major projects \u201coperates similarly\u201d to U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s energy \u201ctiger team,\u201d according to internal Canadian government records.<\/p>\n
The comparison between Carney\u2019s Major Projects Office and the president\u2019s National Energy Dominance Council, or NEDC, are contained in a briefing note for Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson that was obtained by The Narwhal through an access to information request.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NEDC operates similarly to the Major Projects Office,\u201d the briefing note from Natural Resources Canada reads, \u201cproviding support to advance projects efficiently and address issues that may impede progress. It is a small group of officials working at the centre of government to facilitate decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Natural Resources Canada had this description of the White House\u2019s energy dominance council, in a briefing note for Energy Minister Tim Hodgson released via an access to information request. Screenshot: Natural Resources Canada<\/p>\n
According to a description<\/a> by one of its senior advisers, the U.S. council, which was created<\/a> within the Executive Office of the president, is conceived as a \u201ctiger team,\u201d or a group of specialists hired to solve a specific problem. It offers \u201cconcierge, white glove service\u201d to get mining and fossil fuel projects approved fast, the advisor said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s chaired by U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who has close ties to oil and gas producers<\/a>, and the team has been involved in promoting mining, natural gas and a pipeline<\/a> in Alaska. The briefing note shows Hodgson was scheduled to meet with Burgum last October.<\/p>\n Six months after Trump\u2019s council was formed, Carney launched the Major Projects Office with a mandate to \u201cstreamline and accelerate<\/a>\u201d regulatory approvals for \u201cnation-building\u201d projects. The office is backed by the Privy Council Office, the department that supports the prime minister and cabinet.<\/p>\n So far, the prime minister has referred five mining projects and two natural gas projects to the office, as well as others in nuclear, electricity, ports and roads. He put Dawn Farrell, the former CEO of the oil pipeline company Trans Mountain, in charge.<\/p>\n During a visit to an energy conference in Houston in March, Hodgson remarked<\/a> on the closeness of his office\u2019s relationship with Burgum, and said, \u201cthe U.S. wants to achieve energy dominance. We support you in that view.\u201d<\/p>\n The Narwhal approached Hodgson after he gave a speech at a First Nations Major Projects Coalition conference in Toronto on April 30, to ask about the comparison his department made with Trump\u2019s team. The minister, while walking through the conference and chatting with an attendee, twice avoided taking questions, saying he was too busy. Another official suggested contacting his office.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Natural Resources Canada said the comparison between the Major Projects Office and the U.S. council \u201cwas intended as a high-level description of function \u2014 not a statement of equivalence in mandate, governance or approach.\u201d<\/p>\n The department also noted Canada\u2019s \u201cdistinct constitutional, legal and policy framework that reflects our values and obligations\u201d and said Canada\u2019s office is \u201cnot limited to a single industry or sector.\u201d<\/p>\n Treaty 8 Grand Chief says comparisons between Canada and U.S. approaches to development should be \u2018treated very carefully\u2019<\/p>\n Carney has pitched the Major Projects Office as working \u201cin partnership\u201d with Indigenous Peoples. He held summits<\/a> last year with First Nations, Inuit and M\u00e9tis rights holders. The office\u2019s Indigenous Advisory Council is meant to help guide its work.<\/p>\n Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi, of Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta, sits on the Major Projects Office\u2019s Indigenous Advisory Council<\/a>. He reacted to the comparison by noting that Canada\u2019s different constitutional framework, including the Crown\u2019s obligations to First Nations, means \u201cspeed cannot come at the expense of Treaty Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n Dive deeper on this topic<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I can say is that any comparison between the Major Projects Office and a U.S. energy permitting model has to be treated very carefully. Canada operates within a different constitutional framework,\u201d Mercredi said, including Treaty Rights, land claims and the duty to consult. \u201cThe Crown\u2019s obligations to First Nations cannot be treated as permitting issues or obstacles to be managed around.\u201d<\/p>\n He said there is value in the Major Projects Office if it improves government transparency and coordination and ensures First Nations are meaningfully involved in decisions that affect their lands, waters and Treaty Rights.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if the purpose is to simply move projects faster by narrowing, bypassing or compressing Crown obligations, that would be a serious concern,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mercredi said his role on the Indigenous Advisory Council does not replace direct consultation with rights-holding nations and doesn\u2019t satisfy the Crown\u2019s legal obligations.<\/p>\n For Treaty 8 nations, he said, the issue isn\u2019t whether Canada can build major projects \u2014 it\u2019s whether Canada will honour treaties, respect First Nations jurisdiction and ensure decisions are made with \u201cproper consultation, accommodation, environmental protection and real participation by the nations whose territories are affected.\u201d<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s Bill C-5 faces strong opposition, and a lawsuit<\/p>\n The government passed the Building Canada Act, part of Bill C-5<\/a>, in June 2025, cementing a process in law to name projects in the \u201cnational interest.\u201d<\/p>\n It has seen strong opposition<\/a> from some Indigenous communities, as well as public interest groups, who argue it paves the way for the government to circumvent oversight that\u2019s meant to protect the environment, public health and scientific integrity.<\/p>\n The Quebec Environmental Law Centre has launched a legal action<\/a> asking the courts to strike down the law. The group announced April 27 it had gathered 11 other organizations<\/a> who seek to intervene in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n The law centre\u2019s executive director Genevi\u00e8ve Paul, reacting to the documents from the natural resources department, said decisions made behind closed doors are not in the interest of Canadians.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government of Canada needs to act responsibly and defend our institutions, not follow authoritarian trends and copy the jurisdictions which are dismantling the protections we need to move forward safely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist at Greenpeace Canada, said it was \u201ctelling\u201d that the federal department itself was comparing the two offices.<\/p>\n \u201cI think many Canadians who voted for an \u2018elbows up\u2019 agenda would be surprised to learn that our natural resources minister went to Houston [in March] to tell Americans that he wants to help the Trump administration achieve energy dominance, which is code for expanding fossil fuels at any cost,\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n Updated on May 5, 2026, at 11:30 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Natural Resources Canada that was sent after the given deadline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary In briefing notes, officials with Canada\u2019s natural resources department compared a federal office to a White House…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-659935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Tim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CP-Hodgson-HoC-Wyld-WEB-scaled.jpg\"\/)
Energy Minister Tim Hodgson speaks in the House of Commons in April. Photo: Adrian Wyld \/ The Canadian Press<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DougBurgumInterior-TheNarwhal-scaled.jpg\"\/)
U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is the chair of the National Energy Dominance Council and has ties to oil and gas producers. Photo: Flickr<\/a> \/ Andrew King<\/p>\n