A crude oil tanker is seen in Burrard inlet, heading to the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday.Jennifer Gauthier/The Globe and Mail
British Columbia Premier David Eby said Thursday that his counterparts in Alberta and Saskatchewan are jeopardizing major economic development by engaging in what he called “secret” talks with Ottawa on oil pipelines through his province.
The pipeline fight escalated earlier in the day after Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe revealed he is involved in Alberta’s negotiations with Ottawa about a potential oil pipeline across northern B.C., which would mean allowing oil tankers to ply the waters off B.C.’s north coast, where they are currently banned.
The B.C. government has not been a party to those talks, and Mr. Eby said he learned about them through media reports.
Mr. Eby likened his two neighbouring premiers to unprepared tourists wandering into B.C.’s wilderness: “They’re going to have to be rescued at some point. I worry about the cost and the damage that they’re going to cause along the way,” he said in an interview.
The B.C. Premier said Alberta and Saskatchewan are jeopardizing multibillion-dollar investments in liquefied natural gas which have been negotiated with broad support from First Nations.
The talks between Alberta and Ottawa, first reported by The Globe and Mail on Wednesday, represent a change in relationship between the province and the federal government. Premier Danielle Smith has blamed the environmental policies of the previous Liberal government for throttling Alberta’s oil and gas sector. Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to continue pursuing Canada’s environmental goals while also boosting resource production and exports as he seeks to make Canada’s economy less reliant on the United States.
But a pipeline to B.C.’s north coast would endanger the oil tanker ban, a legislative achievement supported by both B.C.’s NDP government and Indigenous groups.
The B.C. NDP government signed a pact with the Coastal First Nations alliance earlier this month to fight any changes to the existing oil tanker ban. First Nations leaders say oil tankers would add a cumulative risk to the existing marine ecosystem in their territorial waters.
“They’re playing with fire in terms of the consequences for British Columbia and Canada in terms of these major projects,” Mr. Eby said. “Coastal First Nations have very clear and unambiguous rights in the region, rights they have exercised in the courts and are certainly willing to exercise again.”
British Columbia has offered an olive branch to Alberta, promising to back an oil expansion project that would increase the capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline by 40 per cent. B.C. has also given a green light to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to dredge the Second Narrows waterway to allow tankers to load more oil at the Trans Mountain marine terminal in Burnaby, which is not covered by the ban.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Canada needs to build new pipelines and expand existing ones in all directions.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Mr. Eby said those concessions were made “through gritted teeth.” B.C. argues there is less risk involved in optimizing the existing pipeline, but Alberta wants a new north coast pipeline as well, to support its goal to double oil production. B.C.’s northern ports also offer faster shipping times to Asia.
Ms. Smith rejected B.C.’s overtures on Thursday, saying Trans Mountain would not be enough of an incentive for her to sign on to any energy accord with Ottawa. She said her government wants the Trans Mountain optimization project to proceed - which will require significant new power supplied by B.C. But she said Canada needs to build new pipelines and expand existing ones in all directions.
In addition to an exemption to the current ban on oil tankers on the B.C. north coast, Alberta is looking for a plan to move ahead with changes to industrial carbon pricing in support of scaling up carbon capture technology, and a lowering or removal of the industrial emissions cap.
Ms. Smith told reporters in Edmonton on Thursday that she is “still very hopeful” that an agreement of some kind can be reached soon. Players in the federal and Alberta governments have been expressing optimism that a deal is within reach and could be announced in time for next weekend’s United Conservative Party of Alberta convention.
The opposition of Coastal First Nations is a significant hurdle for Alberta’s aspirations, because of the constitutionally protected rights of Indigenous peoples set firm requirements for consultation and accommodation.
Marilyn Slett, president of the Coastal First Nations and elected Chief of the Heiltsuk Nation, told The Globe that Ottawa and Alberta cannot unilaterally strike a deal that involves B.C.’s coastal waters.
“Coastal First Nations have not been part of any discussions involving a pipeline MOU,” she said Thursday, referring to the memorandum of understanding that would result if the talks between Ottawa and Alberta succeed. “A political MOU does not override the Rights and Title of First Nations on B.C.’s North and Central Coast and Haida Gwaii, and we will vigorously defend our coastal waters and way of life against the catastrophic risk of oil spills.”
Alberta is currently assessing the technical questions on a proposal it is heading up for a new pipeline to the northwest B.C. coast, which it intends to submit to the Major Projects Office in the spring.
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The province has also had “encouraging conversations” about a range of other proposals, Ms. Smith said. They include a pipeline through an economic corridor from Prince Rupert to Churchill, Man., exporting crude from Thunder Bay through the St. Lawrence Seaway, and transporting oil via the rail system to Sydney, N.S.
“The world is going to need more oil,” Ms. Smith said, and Alberta needs to secure a share of the growing market.
“I would say Premier Eby and I agree on a lot of things. One of them is that we agreed on dredging the Second Narrows to increase capacity, and we agree on expanding the Trans Mountain pipeline as well,” she said.
“I would like to see expansions in all directions.”
Contacted by The Globe, Mr. Carney’s office did not immediately respond to questions about Mr. Eby’s concerns or Saskatchewan’s involvement in the discussions.
With a report from Matthew Scace in Edmonton