The Honourable Tim Hodgson's remarks  presented at the Atlantic Council Energy Security Summit

October 29, 2025

Check against delivery

Good afternoon, everyone, bonjour.

I acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of many nations — including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples — that is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

I also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit and by the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.

I do not think it can be overstated that we meet today at a tipping point.

Countries that built the post-World War II economic world order are now re-ordering it. We are halfway between 2000 and 2050, when we are aiming to be at net-zero emissions. AI has thrown a wrench — or a spark — into all the best-laid plans and is forcing urgent choices about data governance, bias, security and autonomy.

Multilateralism is turning into mercantilism. Supply chains are targets for non-market actors to manipulate. Energy is being used for political leverage. The lines between economic security, national security and energy security are gone.

In this context, this session today and tomorrow’s G7 meeting cannot be another policy panel. It must be a field briefing for the free world’s economy — one where we set the agenda for securing energy, mobilizing capital and scaling technologies that provide us an advantage.

That said, I firmly believe that through diplomacy, cooperation and smart policy we can make the most of this moment. The G7 is one incredibly powerful tool through which we can do that.

I know that because this moment recalls the origins of the G7 itself.

Half a century ago, an oil shock rolled through the world economy: prices spiked; growth faltered; inflation surged. The collapse of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates led to chaos in international monetary markets. 

To navigate this, in November 1975, leaders of six industrial democracies formed a crisis cabinet: the G6. One year later, Canada joined and the G6 became the G7.

The point was not to talk or to talk about talking, as is sometimes the case at multilateral fora these days. It was for the world’s leading democracies to take disciplined action and preserve stability and growth through cooperation. And it worked. In the 1970s, the G7 effectively worked to align plans, de-risk markets, keep citizens working and make sure energy scarcity was not used to coerce our countries.

That founding DNA — an alliance that moves at speed when energy becomes a weapon — remains the G7’s defining legacy.

But with the times we are facing today, it must be more than a legacy. Today, as I just described, we confront a new kind of energy crisis, one shaped by geopolitical pressures, climate change and technological disruption. Just as the G7 once anchored the global response to oil shocks, it must now lead in shaping a new, secure, sustainable and market-based energy order.

Energy security is the first pillar we must build in the face of this crisis.

Recent events have made one truth unmistakable: democracies cannot afford complacency or dependence on suppliers who do not share our values.

At the extreme end of the spectrum, we have watched Russia weaponize energy against Ukraine and to pressure Europe. That reality has reset the energy paradigm, underscoring the strategic value of sustainable, home-grown systems that preserve stability and freedom of action.

Energy affordability is the second pillar we must build in the face of this crisis. In a world of volatile prices, policy must start at the kitchen table.

We need to focus on delivering to our citizens lower, more predictable energy bills without sacrificing security or climate ambition. That means scaling energy efficiency and sharpening market design; accelerating clean, firm and flexible supply; modernizing grids to cut congestion costs; and diversifying fuels and trade so no single shock sets prices. Affordability is not a slogan. It is the test of whether our energy system serves people, strengthens competitiveness and sustains public consent for the transition.

So every democracy has a choice: stand with partners to build energy sovereignty, affordable and just livelihoods, and free, prosperous market-based economies or drift into vulnerability to those who would reorder the world for their own ends. In a world this contested, there is no safe middle ground.

That is why the government here in Canada has adopted a nation-building operating posture.

As the Canadian Prime Minister has set out — and as you will see reflected in our first Budget next week — we will transform how government works. We will:

• take more action with less bureaucratic red tape;
• relentlessly focus public dollars where they strategically unlock private investment;
• balance the operating budget on a credible three-year timeline so capital is confident and affordable; and,
• significantly increase our exports by 2035 in order to generate $300 billion in new international trade to pay for the public services we are proud to deliver to Canadians.

In plain terms: we will move faster, waste less and build and export the energy, natural resources, manufactured goods, and agricultural products that strengthen our economy and our alliances.

It will not be easy — but things worth doing rarely are. And we know there are interested customers on the other side. In fact, I hear constantly from nations on the other side of both oceans that, here in Canada, we have what they want and need to run their economies.

Our value proposition for allies and investors is clear: rule of law; scale and diversity of resources; world-class engineering; and a financial centre capable of mobilizing global capital.

But, for too long, we have not fully utilized that value proposition. Now, there is no longer time for half-measures or slow steps. It is a time for bold action, clear decisions and a renewed spirit of building.

That means Canada and Canadians will come together to challenge ourselves and reframe our national conversation. No more asking, “Why build?” The real question is, “How do we get it done?” That means breaking down barriers and cutting red tape. It also means doing things responsibly the first time: meeting our Duty to Consult so Indigenous Peoples are true partners and protecting our environment so we don’t have to clean up mistakes later.

I want to be very clear. In the new economy we are building, Canada will no longer be defined by delay. We will be defined by delivery.

So what does delivery look like? It begins with a vision: to build Canada into a conventional and clean energy and natural resources superpower.

Being a modern energy superpower means delivery on both reliability and decarbonization: lower-emissions oil and gas; nuclear plant life extensions and new small modular reactors; affordable and well-integrated renewable energy; carbon capture at scale; and end-to-end critical minerals value chains.

It means both ensuring energy affordability and security here at home and working with our partners to supply and ensure theirs. We can do this through our exports, whether these are low-carbon liquefied natural gas; uranium that builds secure nuclear fuel cycles; technologies that enable the energy transition and build secure grids; or critical minerals for defence and advanced manufacturing.

Projects in these areas will not only inject huge capital into our economy, create new jobs for Canadians from coast to coast to coast, and unlock the real potential of our resources. They will also make our country more energy secure than we have been in decades.

We know we must move quickly. That is why the government created the Major Projects Office, a single federal door for projects of national interest. Its job is to close regulatory and permitting gaps, coordinate with provinces and territories, and ensure financing plans can be achieved so bankable projects reach a timely “yes.”

For the first set of projects that will be designated as National Interest Projects, the standard is clear: publish the critical path, hit the milestones, and be accountable for results. That is how investment memos become construction schedules.

For both National Interest Projects and building via other streams, we are focusing on a few themes — all of which feature important security, economic and climate considerations.

The first theme is strategic energy corridors: LNG where allies need it now; CCUS hubs that keep heavy industry competitive while cutting emissions; and electricity interties that harden reliability, integrate clean power and enable provinces and territories to rely more on one another.

The second theme is our critical minerals strategy. We have referred two world-class mining projects, Foran Mine in Saskatchewan and Red Chris Mine in B.C., to the Major Projects Office. But we are not just looking at mines. We are also looking at doing more processing, refining and recycling in Canada to de-risk allied supply chains and capture value at home.

Another key theme is next-generation nuclear, including life extensions of existing plants to protect zero-emissions baseload generation and SMRs to power communities, mines and industry with clean baseload power. In fact, just last week I was at the Darlington nuclear complex with the Prime Minister and the Premier [Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario] announcing an additional $3 billion for their SMR project, which will make Canada the first G7 country to have an operational SMR.

The last theme I will mention today is trade infrastructure that can get our energy, goods and products to new markets. We are looking for projects that raise export throughput and de-bottleneck supply chains, all coordinated via the MPO with one-window permitting and Indigenous partnership frameworks.

I hope it is clear that leveraging our resources and jump-starting building to propel Canadian economic growth and energy security are very much top of mind and top of our to-do list.

But Canada has never been a nation that only looks inward. Ask any Canadian — they know that security, peace and democracy for our allies is security, peace and democracy at home, too.

This week, as Ukraine’s Energy Minister [Svitlana Grynchuk] joins us here in Toronto, we confront the plain fact that for Ukraine, energy security is not an abstract policy issue — it is a reality that they must fight for in their theatre of war. When a hostile, enemy-of-democracy aggressor targets grids, gas storage and transmission, they are not just striking infrastructure; they are striking the ability of free people to live ordinary, hopeful lives.

Ukraine is the frontier of democracy. It is where energy system resilience and national survival meet. Canada stands with Ukraine and all those fighting for energy security, and we are working to support our friends in Ukraine.

Today, I am announcing two concrete steps we are taking toward this.

First, starting this year, Natural Resources Canada is supporting Ukraine’s surveying, construction and engineering sectors with modernized, high-accuracy GNSS/GPS positioning. We have initiated technology transfer from NRCan’s Canadian Geodetic Survey to Ukraine’s StateGeoCadastre, which will enable high-accuracy information even where ground stations and geodetic infrastructure have been damaged by war.

This will be incredibly valuable for rebuilding critical infrastructure across energy, transport, agriculture, water management, surveying and civil engineering.

Secondly, this summer, NRCan scientists travelled to Lithuania to train Ukrainian scientists on energy metering at military camps and camp energy planning tools. In energy-scarce situations, temporary military camps are often hardest hit; so, energy-efficient practices and technologies can provide assurance and resilience to soldiers. Ultimately, our goal is to translate data and tech into operational advantage and lives protected.

These projects are instruments of solidarity with results you can measure: fuel saved, assets hardened, rebuilds accelerated. They will help Ukraine win the day and help us all secure the decade.

Because in the end, energy security is a team sport. As G7 President, Canada hopes to be an inspiration, coach and team captain. But ultimately, we are prepared to play in any position that helps our teammates. I look forward to making that very clear and to offering Canada’s value proposition, as previously described, to our allies over the next two days.

As a great Canadian Marshall McLuhan said, “There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth; we are all crew.” In this time of urgency, everyone has a job: governments, investors, workers, innovators and allied nations — shoulder-to-shoulder, project-by-project.

I hope that by the time the G7 wraps up on Friday, we will have marching orders set out for our seven nations, and for allies beyond, to:

• secure natural gas as a managed-transition tool;
• expand clean power, including nuclear;
• align on responsible AI and energy planning, so that computing growth strengthens — not strains — our systems; and,
• foment our support for Ukraine’s energy system.

That is the agenda of this Atlantic Council Summit converted into action.

Exactly half a century ago, the founders of the G7 turned a crisis into a plan and a plan into coordinated action. They say that those who don’t learn from the past are destined to repeat it. But in this case, repeating the Alliance’s initial success is exactly what we are striving toward.

Either we act with urgency, or we accept higher risk, higher prices and a slower future. For allies like Ukraine, if we do not act with urgency, we are also accepting the end of the rules-based democratic order as we know it.

Accepting that outcome is something Canada will not do. Instead, we choose action; we choose strength at home; we choose alignment abroad.

Our word is good. Our resources are vast. Our workers are ready. Our allies are waiting.

Let a moment of crisis catalyze a new era of strength in the form of reliable, responsible and resilient energy and critical mineral supply chains. So, whether you are a line operator in Windsor, a clean tech entrepreneur in Tokyo or a young family in Kharkiv, you can plan your life with confidence in the freedom and security you deserve and the power that underpins it all.

Thank you, merci.