Madam Speaker, during the last election, we made a clear promise to Canadians to make Canada an energy superpower. From day one, we have been working hard to achieve that goal, building major projects for clean and conventional energy across the country. We made that promise because Canada is a nation of builders, innovators and explorers.
Whether it is the development of hydroelectric power in Quebec, nuclear power in Ontario or conventional energy in Alberta, not to mention all the other energy projects across the country, Canada has the natural resources the world needs. Making Canada an energy superpower means creating jobs, increasing wages and providing opportunities for communities across the country. It means strengthening our economy to deal with the uncertainty that exists both worldwide and in the United States.
To start, we passed the Building Canada Act and created the Major Projects Office. The goal was clear: to accelerate the construction of major projects. Since then, 11 major projects have been submitted to the Major Projects Office, including the port of Montreal expansion project, which is expected to begin construction this year, and critical minerals projects that will strengthen our national security, such as the Nouveau Monde Graphite mine in Quebec, the Sisson mine in New Brunswick and the Foran copper mine in Saskatchewan.
I am also talking about projects such as phase 2 of LNG Canada and Ksi Lisims LNG, which are among the largest private investments in Canadian history, and clean energy projects that will provide reliable and affordable energy, such as the Iqaluit hydroelectric project in Nunavut and the north coast transmission line in British Columbia.
Together, these projects represent $116 billion in investments in our economy and they will support more than 68,000 jobs in Canada. This work is essential in making Canada an energy superpower, but it is only the beginning.
Our government intends to speed up the approval and construction of all infrastructure, energy and natural resource projects. That is why we are implementing the “one project, one review” approach. We will eliminate duplication between federal and provincial assessments. We have already signed co-operation agreements on environmental assessments with three provinces, and we will soon be signing two more. Our goal is to sign agreements with all the provinces to speed up project construction, unlock major investments and create jobs across Canada.
We are not stopping there. In the coming months, our government will introduce our electricity strategy, a strategy that will generate billions of dollars in investments in clean Canadian electricity and our power grid. We will also be introducing our nuclear energy strategy, which will involve developing major nuclear projects to provide even more clean and reliable energy in Canada. This work will create jobs in communities across the country, lead to higher wages for Canadian workers and build a stronger, more resilient economy.
In order to deal with the U.S. tariffs, we need better cards to play. Our energy and natural resources are winning cards for building a prosperous country in an uncertain world. Making Canada an energy superpower does not stop at our borders. The idea is not only to accelerate energy projects here at home, but to diversify our exports as well.
In a world where our closest trading partner has imposed tariffs on us, diversification is a necessity. Diversifying our exports improves our resilience, strengthens our industries and protects our jobs. Diversification allows us to build a strong economy that provides good jobs and good wages for Canadians. Our government has signed 12 trade and security deals on four continents in six months. The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources is in India as we speak, working to expand our trade network and attract even more investment to Canada.
Here is our plan to make Canada an energy superpower: first, speed up the construction of infrastructure and natural resource projects; second, unlock major investments in clean and conventional energy; and third, diversify our exports to strengthen our economy.
This work must be done in partnership with indigenous peoples. Our government will always act in accordance with the constitutional rights of first nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. That is why one of our government's first actions was to double the indigenous loan guarantee program. Reconciliation must be at the heart of our efforts to build major projects because the best projects are those that benefit everyone.
By working together with the provinces, territories and indigenous peoples, we can make Canada an energy superpower. Canada can become a reliable energy supplier in a world in crisis because we have the resources the world needs, the talent to build a prosperous economy and values that unite us.
In the months ahead, we will go further and be more ambitious, because that is what Canadians deserve. We are building Canada strong, with good, well-paying jobs for our workers. We can achieve all this while continuing to fight climate change, a topic our friends in the opposition never seem to mention.
Now I want to talk about our net-zero-by-2050 targets. Today's motion, proposed by the Conservatives, would weaken Canada's position. Their proposal to eliminate all environmental assessments would take us back to the days of Prime Minister Harper, when projects were stalled in court and nothing was getting built, even though there were no official regulations. The Conservative proposal would increase uncertainty and undermine investment at the worst possible time, when we need to build a strong and resilient economy.
Our government's collaborative approach is already accelerating the construction of major projects, and our agreements to achieve the “one project, one review” goal will speed things up even more. Our electricity and nuclear strategies will unlock major investments in our energy sector and ensure a clean future for our children. However, there is no mention of that in their proposal. Our work on the international stage is diversifying our markets to strengthen our economy. That is how we make Canada an energy superpower. That is how we build a country.