Arctic/northern/Indigenous/rural/resource development. Director of Energy, Natural Resources and Environment @MLInstitute and Special Adviser @BizCouncilofCan
Calgary, Alberta
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Heather Exner-Pirot retweeted
Lloydminster ethanol plant closing leaves growers hunting a buyer - producer.com/news/cenovus-ll…
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Heather Exner-Pirot retweeted
Feds investing $1 billion for road to Ring of Fire in Ontario: Carney nationalnewswatch.com/2026/1…
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Heather Exner-Pirot retweeted
If your argument is: we should consume less gas, I do have respect for it. If instead it is: I rather buy gas overseas I know we need so I can virtue signal we're reducing local output, I have no respect for it.
For more, my @Opinion column from April ⤵️ bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
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For the first time in nearly 50 years, the 400-kilometre Tibbitt-to-Contwoyto winter ice road in NWT that connects the Far North to the rest of Canada will not be built — and climate change is not to blame.
Instead, three of the four diamond mines the ice road supplied have closed and the fourth is scheduled to wind down ahead of schedule next year due to a global crash in natural diamond prices.
financialpost.com/feature/ca…
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I have no referendum hot takes except to say that the market never priced in any risk to the Canadian oil and gas sector, never regarded the separation scenario as credible, and therefore shrugged off the Alberta referendum both before and after the vote.
Market movements consistent with ordinary energy-sector volatility.
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Are you also obsessed with Arctic microereactors?
Our American friends at USARC have done useful work on the topic, and are hosting a public out-brief on their recent 'Advanced Microreactors Arctic Deployment Workshop' on Oct 22, as well as provided a summary of the workshop findings, details at the link below.
arctic.gov/amad-workshop
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Saskatchewan’s veteran uranium miners now face scrappy rivals — and sparks are flying
Cameco says it is not 'hyper-promoting massive growth projects,' in a veiled dig at its competitors. NexGen Energy, one of those challengers, decries 'an old story of complacency' 🍿
financialpost.com/business/e…
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Heather Exner-Pirot retweeted
Picking up a fight with Canada and allying with Russia ahead of the mid-terms seems totally in line with U.S. public opinion.
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Heather Exner-Pirot retweeted
Heather Exner-Pirot (@ExnerPirot): Is Alberta on a slippery slope of economic interventionism?. thehub.ca/2026/10/19/is-albe…
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Heather Exner-Pirot retweeted
Nvidia challenger Tenstorrent raises $1.5-billion, valuing Toronto-founded company at $6.2-billion
theglobeandmail.com/business…
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Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation has demanded to be consulted on the massive new data centre outside Regina. Bell has denied the request.
This goes to the heart of the duty to consult and accommodate: who needs to be consulted, what rights or interests might be affected, and how intensive the engagement process must be. This is often called "scoping" in of nations who must be consulted. The Cold Lake judicial review of the national interest designation of Pacific Link pipeline is related to this question.
As a rule of thumb, the level of engagement should correspond to the severity of impacts a project has on Indigenous Peoples and their rights. For Bell, Saskatchewan guidelines on DtC mean SBDN is not at risk of adverse effects to their rights and therefore do not need to be consulted.
cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche…
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Here are federal guidelines on scoping of nations for DtC.
Nations will usually want to be scoped in because they then get more say in how a project proceeds, as well as become more likely to enter into a benefits agreement. Proponents will always want a short and narrow list, because it takes time and money and effort to fulfill the DtC.
But the Nations closest/most impacted by a project will also tend to want that list to be short, because they will then get more say and more benefits, commensurate with their impact.
Sometimes governments have taken a maximalist approach, with nations hundreds of kms away getting scoped in. I know of a ~20 km pipeline addition that had 42 nations scoped in. And a medium sized mining project that did not go ahead because it had a dozen nations scoped in and it could not fulfill the DtC and IBAs.
Clarity and tight guidelines on scoping has been a top ask of industry. Looks like SBDN and Cold Lake are testing the regime.
canada.ca/content/dam/iaac-a…
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Here is Saskatchewan Duty to Consult guidelines. Ultimately it is the Crown's obligation to fulfill.
"Prior to engaging communities, proponents are advised to contact the ministry, agency, or Crown corporation responsible for project authorizations to discuss potentially impacted First Nation and Métis communities and relevant engagement plans. Government will work with proponents throughout the engagement process to provide information and assist when appropriate."
publications.saskatchewan.ca…
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My latest for @TheHubCanada
Alberta is testing the boundary from owning resources to developing them. This has manifested in its various royalty-in-kind programs; equity stakes in pipelines and refineries; and even the floating of a Crown corporation to build and own natural gas pipelines, albeit later dismissed.
I don’t think Alberta has yet crossed a line. But what is a conservative government if not one that participates in the market reluctantly, and with regret, and with a clear exit strategy? What we are seeing instead is a government that seems to be seeking opportunities to become a market participant, keeping its options open and numerous, and making deals that could otherwise be left to firms.
There is a place for market interventionism in some extenuating circumstances. I won’t suggest otherwise. But the political culture in Alberta is such that it should be practiced as a last resort, not a first resort.
thehub.ca/2026/10/19/is-albe…
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“That lower court decision saw the trial judge say that the 2021 federal UNDRIP legislation had the effect of changing Canada’s duty to consult doctrine into a free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) requirement in various circumstances.
The Federal Court of Appeal has now rejected that view, putting the duty to consult back the way it was before the overly creative trial judgment.”
Some initial thoughts on the CNL v Kebaowek First Nation decision on effects of federal UNDRIP legislation on duty to consult and who has to implement UNDRIP (And some implications re Gitxaala. And the FCA calling the SCC erroneous!): lawforbreakfast.substack.com…
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Also a well deserved rebuke by Newman for the ambiguity the Courts, and I will add also the BC legislature and federal Parliament, injected into a very sensitive legal and political environment about Indigenous rights. Whatever your feeling on where it should land, I think we can all agree this vagueness and lack of clarity has been damaging to Canada. Everyone warned this would happen when UNDRIP legislation was getting passed. A pox on them.
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Heather Exner-Pirot retweeted
Some initial thoughts on the CNL v Kebaowek First Nation decision on effects of federal UNDRIP legislation on duty to consult and who has to implement UNDRIP (And some implications re Gitxaala. And the FCA calling the SCC erroneous!): lawforbreakfast.substack.com…
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Canada's largest helium purification facility has begun operating in southwest Saskatchewan, strengthening the province's position as the nation's largest producer of helium.
The new facility, located near Stewart Valley, will produce approximately 73 million cubic feet of helium per year.
saskatchewan.ca/government/n…
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Heather Exner-Pirot retweeted
#BREAKING: Anthropic @AnthropicAI has confirmed it is the long-term lease tenant for the $10B EverWind data centre campus in N.S. - as announced earlier today here globalnews.ca/news/12105095/…
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