OTTAWA – New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt pitched her province’s natural resources as key to Canada’s goal of becoming an energy super power as she spoke Monday with the prime minister and business leaders in Ottawa.
Holt told reporters ahead of a closed-door meeting with Mark Carney that New Brunswick “has what the world needs.”
“We have the trade infrastructure to get those assets out to the world (that) wants this at a time when our allies are looking for new and different relationships,” Holt said.
Last year, the federal government identified a proposed tungsten mine in Sisson Brook, N.B., as a project that could be fast-tracked through the approval process because of its potential benefit to the national economy.
“When we meet, we make progress. We made progress on the Sisson Mine last time we talked,” Carney said alongside Holt. The premier later said the federal government was still supportive of the project and that work continues.
Holt said she also planned to press Carney for federal partnership on health-care funding and more defence investments in New Brunswick.
“New Brunswickers want to see access to health care in their province and they want to live an affordable life,” Holt said. “I’m here to share those priorities with the prime minister and continue the work that we’ve done.”
Holt joined three of her counterparts Monday afternoon for a Canadian Chamber of Commerce panel on interprovincial trade, considered a key element of Canada’s response to economic pressures caused by the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Holt touted her Liberal government’s move last year to make it easier for Canadians from other provinces to work in New Brunswick, to applause from the panel audience.
She also noted her province allows businesses from across Canada to sell alcohol directly to residents of New Brunswick and encouraged Ontario Premier Doug Ford to do the same.
“I can tell you right now, Ontarians would love to have the benefit of New Brunswick craft beer in their province, and so I’m looking forward to that,” said Holt.
All 10 provinces and the Yukon signed an agreement last year to allow consumers to order Canadian wine, spirits, beer and other alcoholic beverages for personal consumption directly from producers.
Pierre-Alain Bujold, a spokesperson for the Privy Council Office, said Monday that provinces and territories are continuing to work toward the May 2026 deadline.
However, Holt is facing some backlash for a planned toll on a key highway at the Nova Scotia border that critics say threaten goals to eliminate internal trade barriers.
“Targeting out-of-province carriers that must use the only land access point to Nova Scotia is not a constructive policy – and it’s likely unconstitutional,” Stephen Laskowski, president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, said in a statement earlier this month.
“This proposal risks undermining the free flow of goods and people that Canada’s economy depends on.”
Holt said provincial tolls “are quite common” in response to reporter questions. She told The Canadian Press earlier this month that she would not back off putting the toll in place.
Rob Lantz, premier of Prince Edward Island, said he was uncomfortable with Holt’s proposed toll and Nova Scotia’s existing Cobequid Pass levy.
“Exempting citizens of specific provinces doesn’t sit entirely well with me,” Lantz said, as he stood next to Holt during the news conference.
Despite the “tight fiscal situations” of the Atlantic provinces, Lantz said he hoped Holt would be open to discussing more about the toll. P.E.I.’s Confederation Bridge connecting the Island to Canada’s mainland has a federal levy.
New Brunswick is considered by analysts as one of the provinces most impacted by ongoing U.S. tariffs. Its forestry sector, a key contributor to the province’s economy, has been subject to U.S. levies that can total 45 per cent for some products.
Officials are hoping to secure tariff exemptions and stable market access to the U.S. during an upcoming review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement scheduled for July.
Holt said Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told her there was “motion, but not movement” in early CUSMA talks.
“The relationships are developing, but nobody’s satisfied with the status of things today. We need to see a clear path forward,” Holt said.
But, she said, the “unpredictable nature of our partners” means there could be a breakthrough at any point in negotiations.
“We have a sense that, at any given moment, a big lumber producer in the U.S. could put in a call to the president and things could change tomorrow,” she said, in reference to President Donald Trump.
P.E.I.’s Lantz said there is less risk to Canada if the North American free trade deal is renewed without changes.
“To be quite honest, we’re not in a bad position vis-a-vis some of the other trading partners with the United States right now,” he said.
Lantz noted P.E.I. grew its exports to the U.S. last year and that many of its exports are CUSMA compliant.
“(I’m) fairly satisfied with our particular trading relationship but we need to settle this. It’s the uncertainty that’s causing the most concern across the country.”
Holt said there’s a lot of common ground between the provinces and federal government.
“There’s much more that we agree on than that we disagree on,” she said.
“And now is the time for all of us to come together and seize the moment that Canada is faced with for the benefit of our provinces and for our country.”
Holt was also scheduled for sit-downs with the ministers of justice, defence and health. She will head to Toronto on Tuesday to conclude a two-day trip to Ontario.
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