Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, B.C., February, 2024. Poll by Environics Research found that 73 per cent of Canadians support new oil pipelines.Chris Helgren/Reuters
Three-quarters of Canadians are in favour of building a new oil pipeline to the West or East Coast, according to a new poll, which could bolster Prime Minister Mark Carney’s goal of making the country an energy superpower with the help of large infrastructure builds.
The poll, by Environics Research, found that 73 per cent of Canadians support new oil pipelines. Even in Quebec, where respondents have traditionally been staunchly opposed to such infrastructure, 59 per cent supported a pipeline to the West Coast, and 55 per cent to the East Coast.
Looming over the unusually high support for oil infrastructure is U.S. President Donald Trump’s continued trade war. He has threatened to raise tariffs on some Canadian goods to 35 per cent at the beginning of next month.
Mr. Carney and several premiers say getting the best deal for Canada is what matters in the latest round of trade talks with the United States, even if that means blowing past the countries’ Aug. 1 deadline.
Researchers focused on three major topics in their questions: whether the public is on board with Mr. Carney’s energy and infrastructure agenda, how that feeds into support for the oil sands and building new pipelines, and where that leaves Canada’s climate goals.
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The results are based on a national online survey conducted June 11 to 23, with 2,072 adult Canadians. Online surveys with opt-in panels use non-probability samples and thus a margin of sampling error is not calculated.
When asked which energy projects should be prioritized in the national interest, one in six answered conventional energy and one in four said clean energy, but half of respondents said both, which seems to align with Mr. Carney’s goal for Canada to become an energy superpower on both fronts.
Even in oil-rich Alberta, where the province habitually pushes back against any policy it believes undermines the fossil-fuel sector, 55 per cent of respondents were on-board with prioritizing both conventional and clean energy development.
The only place that doesn’t hold is in Quebec, where more people favour clean energy development alone.
Both Liberal (60 per cent) and Conservative (52 per cent) supporters would prefer a mix of project types, though the balance of Conservative supporters lean more toward conventional projects.
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A majority of respondents also favour reducing barriers to natural-resource development. And most say the federal government’s changes to shorten the approval timelines for major projects will streamline the process rather than reduce the country’s ability to protect the environment, the report notes.
Responses to those latter two questions represent complete reversals in public opinion from a decade ago, said Sarah Roberton, senior vice-president of corporate and public affairs with Environics Research.
“We’re in a new landscape. People are recognizing we need to do something different,” Ms. Roberton said in an interview.
That seems to suggest that Mr. Carney has a window of opportunity in which his government may have the public’s support on rapid infrastructure development, she said.
Environics has also been tracking support for the oil sands, which this year has jumped to 62 per cent – a level not seen since 2012.
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Despite public support for natural-resource development, however, 78 per cent of respondents say they are concerned about environmental damage caused by industry and business. And the public has not moved away from skepticism about the oil and gas industry’s commitment to reducing its environmental damage.
Amid U.S. threats creating pressure to strengthen Canada’s economy, 81 per cent of respondents remain firmly in favour of investing in clean technology and sustainable energy. Relatively few believe such investments will harm Canada’s economy or impede its recovery.
That support for investing in clean solutions spans all regions and demographic groups, including majorities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and among Conservative voters.
Ms. Roberton said that suggests Canadians are prioritizing positive economic news after a decade of slow growth, and are on-board with using all of the country’s resources to break the logjam and generate economic activity.