Carney Liberals planned $200 million Nova Scotia spaceport long before 'elbows up' rhetoric
Pictures of the underwhelming spaceport recently went viral on social media, prompting backlash from critics.
New documents show the Carney government's $200 million deal with Maritime Launch Services was years in the making, despite recent efforts to frame the Nova Scotia spaceport as an urgent matter of Canadian sovereignty.
According to an Order Paper response tabled June 15 by the Department of National Defence, federal officials had been discussing the project with Maritime Launch Services "over several years" before the government formally announced the funding arrangement on March 16, 2026.
The response was provided to Conservative MP Adam Chambers, who asked when discussions began, who initiated them, and how the agreement was developed.
National Defence confirmed that the federal government itself initiated the discussions. Internal consultations conducted between late 2024 and early 2025 identified space launch capability as a "priority sovereign capability," prompting officials to engage both Maritime Launch Services and NordSpace to assess their readiness.
By June 2025, Maritime Launch Services had been informed that the federal government intended to proceed with funding a domestic space launch program and had already identified the company as its primary spaceport provider.
The department said substantive negotiations ran from the summer of 2025 through December 2025, culminating in the first draft of a lease agreement. That draft was prepared by National Defence and sent to Maritime Launch Services on December 17, 2025.
The government also confirmed that no letter of intent was signed before the final lease agreement.
The new disclosure raises questions about government claims that the project, which appears to be nothing more than a gravel pit, emerged as an urgent response to changing geopolitical circumstances. According to National Defence's own timeline, Ottawa had already decided that domestic launch infrastructure was a strategic priority months before the wave of nationalist "Elbows Up" messaging that accompanied Mark Carney's rise to power.
The response also confirms that the initiative was government-driven from the outset. National Defence led the consultations, identified the capability requirement, selected Maritime Launch Services as the preferred provider, and drafted the first version of the agreement.
Earlier Order Paper responses revealed the company also received support through other federal agencies, including financing from Export Development Canada and assistance from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, while company representatives held numerous meetings with ministers, chiefs of staff, and senior bureaucrats across government.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.
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COMMENTS
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Bernhard Jatzeck commented 2026-06-17 08:27:10 -0400It’s not the first time in this country that an outrageous price was paid for something quite simple. Remember when the National Gallery paid nearly $2 million for the “Voice of Fire” painting in the late 1980s? It was a red vertical stripe on a dark blue background and people across the country mocked it with low-cost imitations.
That purchase, however, couldn’t be blamed on the Liberal party as Mulroney was prime minister at the time. -
Bruce Atchison commented 2026-06-16 22:46:38 -0400I have a pad made of old sidewalk blocks. But I doubt the feds would rent it for a mere $3-billion with payment back-dated to 2023.
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Bernhard Jatzeck commented 2026-06-16 16:41:30 -0400That place has a long way to go before it can come close to rivaling what SpaceX has at its facility at Boca Chica, Texas. One would think that the recent loss of Blue Origin’s New Glenn booster in a launch pad explosion would persuade the owners to move it elsewhere.
