For PPF’s Build Big Things, important work ahead

What a week! To say that we were pleased to see yesterday’s historic major projects announcement would be an understatement. PPF has been working on our Build Big Things initiative for more than a year; we produced our playbook guide in May and saw many of those recommendations reflected in yesterday’s news. 

In particular, we were thrilled indeed to see the Indigenous Advisory Council to the new Major Projects Office include JP Gladu, whose preface to our report is a must-read, and Crystal Smith, an honouree at this year’s Testimonial Dinner. We say it all the time: increased Indigenous economic engagement is a non-negotiable aspect to unlocking investment and getting projects to final investment decision.

Our report, which had also called for the very creation of a major projects list and the launch of an MPO, got it so right because of you, our members and partners — our model of deep, meaningful consultations across the spectrum of industry, policymakers, academia and civil society means we produce resilient, actionable policy recommendations. Thank you for your engagement, and commitment to this process. This week, I think we can say with conviction that our combined work helped strengthen the country.

This morning, we published our weekly Build Big Things newsletter with a summary of the post-announcement commentary and analysis. We’ve been pleased to have become a go-to source on unfolding projects news, with recent interviews in the National Observer, Agence France-Presse, CTV, CBC News, CFRA radio and the National, as well as an op-ed in The Globe and Mail

This is a proud moment for PPF, and the country, but so much important work lies ahead.

We’re fine-tuning an impressive exclusive analysis with Navius Research about Canada’s oil and LNG export advantage, as well as working on upcoming reports on nuclear, mining and critical minerals, and attracting investment.

Later this month, our WONK podcast is planning an interview with Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.

Importantly, we will be tracking government oversight during this process. As we said in the BBT report (written by Jay Khosla, Yiota Kokkinos, Chris Turner and Arash Golshan), the government must stay laser-focused with mission-driven accountability. A cabinet committee, chaired by the prime minister, should be meeting monthly to oversee progress on the projects, with regular first ministers meetings to review progress as well as public reporting and milestone tracking to measure momentum and maintain focus.

I look forward to exciting discussions together as we help ensure that Canada’s drive to build big things remains in service of all Canadians. The work continues.

Sincerely, 

Inez Jabalpurwala