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by Chris Varcoe – Calgary Herald – This Aticle and More by Chris Varcoe Here
Danielle Smith and other Alberta business leaders are pleased with Dawn Farrell at the helm of the the federal government’s new Major Projects Office
Dawn Farrell was at the helm of TransAlta Corp. last decade when the Calgary-based power company began to move off of coal-fired generation and switch to natural gas, helping the company slash its emissions by 60 per cent between 2005 and 2020.
Last year, she led Trans Mountain Corp. during its final push to get the $34-billion megaproject across the finish line, d
“When you look at her career, she’s kind of done it all,” Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said in an interview.
“From being a senior executive at BC Hydro . . . to being CEO of TransAlta, where she led the transformation of the company away from coal and into renewables, to her experience at Trans Mountain, where she took a very challenging project and got it done . . . I couldn’t think of somebody who had a better set of skills, if what we’re trying to do is build better and build faster for Canadians.”
Headquartered in Calgary, the office will be responsible for co-ordinating and expediting the development of nationally important projects — such as new transmission projects, pipelines, ports and LNG plants — under Ottawa’s new Bill C-5 legislation.
The federal office aims to reduce timelines to approve major projects to a maximum of two years, in part by streamlining regulatory processes, according to a federal statement. It will also help structure and co-ordinate financing of projects, as required, it said.
The office will receive expert advice from an Indigenous advisory council. And Farrell, the former chancellor at Mount Royal University, will serve as the federal office’s chief executive.
“It’s a good choice,” said Ian Anderson, who preceded Farrell as Trans Mountain’s CEO and led the historic pipeline expansion project for more than a decade before retiring in 2022.
“She brings experience. She’s been in the trenches on the completion of Trans Mountain. She’s been very well exposed to all of the local and political and execution challenges of a major project like that.”
That’s why Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government turned to Farrell to take over its new office, as Ottawa prepares to begin announcing next month which developments make the major projects list.
Premier Danielle Smith applauded Farrell’s appointment, and the office’s headquarters being in Calgary. Yet, she also pointed to the ongoing issues of getting pipelines and other infrastructure built under the existing federal Impact Assessment Act, also known as Bill C-69.
“It’s very clear some of the projects that we’ve been stymied by, with Bill C-69, are from Calgary-based companies wanting to build pipelines. And so I think that she’s going to be in the right place, in the right city, doing the right job,” Smith told reporters on Friday.
The premier wants a new oil pipeline built from Alberta to the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia, capable of shipping one million barrels per day. Smith has spoken with pipeline companies about the issue, although no private-sector proponent has come forward to pitch such a proposal.
Carney told the Herald in July that it’s “highly, highly likely” an oil pipeline project will be put on the fast-track list for approval.
“It would be an unusual choice to choose a woman who’s built a pipeline . . . to the B.C. coast, and centre a project (office) in Calgary, where all the pipeline companies are, if you were going to say ‘No,’ ” Smith added.
“I would say that is an encouraging sign that some of our messaging is getting through.”
Hodgson said that by basing the head office in Calgary, “the message is loud and clear” that major projects will be built across the country, including in Western Canada.
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers CEO Lisa Baiton said the sector has about $26 billion worth of projects under construction, and another $100 billion or more is being planned or awaiting a positive final investment decision.
Locally, the City of Calgary has been pushing for the proposed Prairie Economic Gateway, an inland port and logistics hub, to be put on the list of major projects.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek said placing the office in the city positions Calgary “at the forefront of major national efforts, reinforcing our city’s leadership in trade, energy and innovation.”
“You couldn’t get a better person to do this,” Calgary Chamber of Commerce CEO Deborah Yedlin said of Farrell’s appointment.
“She is going to have to manage expectations but, at the same time, provide certainty that what is being proposed, in terms of project, will get done. People are going to need to have some patience.”
Farrell stepped down as CEO of Trans Mountain Corp. to become its board chair last September.
Meanwhile, the Trans Mountain Corp. is exploring initiatives that would let it incrementally move more oil on its Alberta-to-B.C. pipeline system.
The Crown corporation is looking to raise the capacity of its pipeline network by between five and 10 per cent, likely by early 2027, using drag-reducing agents to increase how much product can flow through its network, said CEO Mark Maki. He estimates the cost at less than $20 million.
In an interview on Wednesday, Maki said he expects export pipelines out of Western Canada will be consistently full by the end of 2027 as oil production increases in the country.
The corporation is also working on a longer-term proposal to add pumping stations to its system, which would increase its capacity to almost 1.14 million bpd from 890,000 bpd.
Should Trans Mountain’s proposed developments be added to the major projects list by its owner, the federal government?
“I may not need the whole weight of the major projects office,” Maki said.
“We’re plowing ahead like we’re not on the list, let’s just be straight. But if we’re on the list, great.”
Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.
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