Rajan Sawhney, centre, said she doesn’t see herself as a pipeline ambassador. Ms. Sawhney, then-minister of trade, immigration and multiculturalism, speaks at an announcement in Calgary, in April, 2023.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Alberta’s Indigenous Affairs Minister is in Kitimat, B.C., this week, but said she is not there as an ambassador for the proposal floated by her government earlier this month to lead an application for a major new oil pipeline to the West Coast.
The minister, Rajan Sawhney, says her meetings with various First Nations leaders this week have been more of a getting-to-know-you exercise, often over coffee and cookies. Pipelines, she said in an interview Tuesday evening, have hardly come up.
Despite this, when it does become the topic of conversation, she said questions have centred on the possible pipeline route and Alberta’s proposed consultation process.
“It gives me an opportunity to say, ‘Well, there is no route,’” she said, because there is no current proponent for an oil pipeline.
Alberta is heading up the plan to hammer out a proposal for a one-million-barrel-a-day bitumen pipeline, but the government ultimately wants a private proponent to take over.
And whoever does so must develop a route with Indigenous feedback and engagement, Ms. Sawhney said.
“For me, it’s an opportunity to be very clear on what Alberta’s role is, so people aren’t making any assumptions that we’re being really pushy and this is a done deal,” she said.
Ms. Sawhney said her conversations this week are also a chance for her to understand the priorities of different Indigenous communities, whether it’s finding ways to offer more job opportunities, or economic development, equity interest and ownership in natural resource projects.
Alongside her informal meetings with representatives from communities including the Gitga’at First Nation, Metlakatla First Nation and Haisla Nation, Ms. Sawhney was set to address the Nation2Nation annual forum in Kitimat on Wednesday and Thursday.
The message she brought to the room Wednesday was that having Indigenous voices at the table would be critically important as Alberta moves ahead with developing a route and high-level cost estimate for a new oil pipeline to the coast.
Opinion: Canada needs to act like a fox on pipelines and oil
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has long called for another pipeline from her province to the West Coast, so the oil sector can access global markets and prices.
Her push culminated in this month’s announcement that her government would draw up a proposal for new oil pipeline to the B.C. coast, which will be sent to Ottawa’s new Major Projects Office by May, 2026.
Alberta hasn’t finalized a route or a cost estimate for the project, but is proposing a 42-inch-diameter pipeline, extending to either Prince Rupert or Kitimat, B.C., from Alberta. It has started engaging with First Nations that could be affected and is also discussing the concept with the B.C. government, which has not been supportive of a new oil pipeline.
The plan has Ms. Smith and B.C. Premier David Eby at loggerheads.
Ms. Smith has said that the push for a new pipeline will test whether Canada works as a country. After Mr. Eby described the pipeline pitch as “fictional” and “non-existent,” Ms. Smith called his comments “un-Canadian” and “unconstitutional,” pointing to the Supreme Court‘s position that interprovincial pipelines fall under federal jurisdiction.
Alberta to draw up proposal for new oil pipeline to B.C. coast by May
According to recent polling from Angus Reid, a firm majority of Canadians – 59 per cent, including majorities in every region – say they support the idea of a pipeline running from northern Alberta to the northwest B.C. coast.
But if reaction to Alberta’s original announcement is anything to go by, the province – and a pipeline proponent, if one emerges – could face an uphill battle.
There is broad Indigenous support for liquefied natural gas projects in B.C. But Mr. Eby says that “fragile consensus” is at risk – along with multibillion-dollar investments – if Alberta succeeds in persuading Ottawa to lift the current oil tanker ban on the North Coast.
Marilyn Slett, president of Coastal First Nations, rejected Ms. Smith’s Oct. 1 announcement, saying in a statement that there is no support for a pipeline and oil tankers project in coastal waters.
“Premier Smith’s continued talk of oil pipelines and tankers, and the risk of a catastrophic oil spill in B.C.’s coastal waters, is not nation-building. In fact, it risks the goodwill and support of First Nations for more realistic and economically valuable nation-building projects in B.C. and beyond,” Ms. Slett said at the time.
Ms. Sawhney said Ms. Smith’s long-time push for pipelines means Ms. Sawhney had numerous conversations about the topic prior to the Oct. 1 announcement, but she doesn’t see herself as a pipeline ambassador.
“I see myself – and I mean this with all authenticity – as somebody who’s making sure that Indigenous communities and their interests are going to be represented,” she said.