The port of Prince Rupert, B.C., could be the terminus for a new oil pipeline, if such an agreement is reached between the Alberta and federal governments. B.C. opposes lifting an oil tanker ban for the area.The Globe and Mail
B.C’s Jobs Minister said he’s heard nothing from Ottawa about a potential deal with Alberta that includes a new pipeline to his province’s coast, calling the idea a hypothetical distraction from work that the Carney government needs to do.
Ravi Kahlon told reporters in British Columbia Wednesday that Ottawa should focus on supporting ready-to-go natural-resources projects. The government risks billions in investment – and First Nations support – by focusing on a pipeline with no proponent, he said.
“Let’s figure out how to unlock those projects and not use our energy on something that at this point, there’s nothing other than a PR room in Alberta,” Mr. Kahlon said.
The Globe and Mail reported Wednesday that talks are progressing rapidly between the governments of Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for a new energy accord.
It could include a proposal for an oil pipeline running from Alberta to the northwest coast of British Columbia and an exemption to the current ban on oil tankers on the B.C. coast so the product could be shipped to overseas markets, two federal sources told The Globe.
Ottawa, Alberta close to deal that includes oil pipeline to B.C. coast, sources say
The Globe is not naming the sources, who were not authorized to discuss the confidential negotiations.
B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix was blunt about a partial tanker ban.
“We are flat-out opposed to lifting the tanker ban. This project is financially problematic,” he said in an interview Wednesday.
But the B.C. government isn’t opposed to moving more Alberta crude oil to the West Coast.
The government is now backing a proposal to increase the capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline system by more than half a million barrels a day, with results as early as 2026. Alberta also supports that plan.
Ms. Smith’s office declined to comment on the details of the talks with Ottawa.
“We are currently in the final stages of this negotiation and will have more to say soon,” press secretary Sam Blackett said in an e-mail.
Jonathan Wilkinson, B.C. MP and former minister of natural resources.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Earlier this week, Ms. Smith had suggested that members of Mr. Carney’s own caucus were a stumbling block in getting a memorandum of understanding signed.
On their way into a caucus meeting in Ottawa Wednesday, some Liberal MPs said buy-in from B.C. is essential but didn’t flat-out reject the idea of a pipeline or the partial lifting of the ban.
Steven Guilbeault, who was often in Ms. Smith’s line of fire when he was the federal environment minister, told reporters that he will wait to see what’s actually in the agreement.
The Prime Minister and other senior ministers have previously said that any new pipeline would require full co-operation, he said in French.
“So, if it were to go to the West Coast, British Columbia would have to agree,” said Mr. Guilbeault, who is now Canadian Identity Minister.
Jonathan Wilkinson, a B.C. MP and the former natural-resources minister, echoed that position, and said coastal First Nations would also have to be on board.
“I think there’s a bunch of things that have to get worked through if, in fact, the government is looking to at least partially lift the ban.”
B.C. asks Ottawa to retain north coast tanker ban, blocking Alberta’s pipeline ambitions
In a statement, the Heiltsuk Nation in B.C. said it was still recovering from a 2016 oil spill in its coastal territory. What went into the water then, the nation said, was a fraction of what could be carried by a supertanker, and so the tanker ban must remain in place.
“All it would take is one oil spill to destroy our way of life,” the statement said.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said the ban simply can’t be lifted, given the geographic conditions of the area.
“There is no chance in God’s green earth that there’s ever going to be an oil tanker up the B.C. North Coast,” she told reporters.
Ms. May helped the Carney government’s budget pass on Monday after the Prime Minister said Canada will respect commitments under the Paris climate agreement. That could be harder with a new pipeline operational.
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Ms. May said she still takes Mr. Carney at his word, but reiterated that her future support is not guaranteed, and she would have more to say if an exemption to the tanker ban materializes.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government passed the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act in 2019, formalizing restrictions on oil-tanker traffic in northern B.C.
The act is one of the “nine bad laws” that Ms. Smith cites as barriers to increased resource development, and that she wants Ottawa to repeal.
In June, however, she suggested to reporters that she could support a limited lifting of the ban just for the port of Prince Rupert, B.C., which could be the terminus for a new pipeline.
Conservative MP Ellis Ross, who represents the riding that includes Prince Rupert, said he’s curious whether an exemption would mean amending the legislation or just having it handled through the Major Projects Office (MPO).
The Carney government set up the MPO this year to help speed natural-resources projects through the regulatory process.
The government has now referred several developments already well under way to the office.
It has also referred Pathways Plus, an Alberta-based carbon capture, utilization and storage project to the office.
The office is supposed to be developing a strategy to get that project built and it is expected to be part of an Alberta-Ottawa MOU.
With a report from Justine Hunter and Emma Graney