B.C. Premier Eby urges Carney to 'look west' but won't budge on tanker ban

OTTAWA — British Columbia Premier David Eby is urging the federal government to “look west” for major projects, but is still wavering on the so-called “grand bargain” on shipping decarbonized oil through B.C.’s north coast.

Eby told reporters on Parliament Hill on Thursday that it’s too early to discuss reversing the federal government’s northwest coast oil tanker ban, with no pipeline proposal on the table.

He chalked it up to the slick salesmanship of his Alberta counterpart, Danielle Smith, that a pipeline was even a topic of national discussion.

“I’ll say this for Premier Smith from Alberta, she’s an incredible advocate because you’d never guess that there is no private proponent, there’s no money (and) there’s no project,” said Eby.

“This project is nonexistent, except for in the political discourse,” he continued.

Eby said he was “concerned” that Smith’s stubborn push for a new West Coast pipeline could put more viable resource projects in B.C. “in jeopardy,” particularly those that rely on Indigenous participation.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he’ll consider fast-tracking a new heavy oil pipeline to B.C.’s north coast in exchange for scaling up carbon capture, a proposition Smith has dubbed the “grand bargain,” but the tanker ban remains a major stumbling block.

Smith has proposed shipping a million barrels of oil per day through the Port of Prince Rupert in northwestern B.C. to markets in the Pacific.

Energy investments adviser Chris Sankey says Eby is mixing cause and effect when he highlights the absence of a private-sector proponent for a new West Coast pipeline.

“Everybody wants to see a new pipeline built, but nobody wants to be the first one shot coming through the door.”

Sankey said private investors are “once burned, twice shy” after seeing billions in investment dollars fall to the whims of federal politics.

The $7.8-billion Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline to Kitimat, B.C., was cancelled in late 2016, fulfilling a campaign promise by then prime minister Justin Trudeau to safeguard B.C.’s north coast from pipelines.

Trudeau ordered a ban on north coast tanker traffic shortly after taking office in 2015 and oversaw the passage of a federal law formalizing the ban in 2019.

Eby was in Ottawa to lobby Carney for more investment in B.C.-based initiatives , as he continues to populate his list of major nation-building projects .

He said Thursday that he had a simple sales pitch for the prime minister.

“(If) the federal government is interested in … leveraging billions of dollars for private-sector investments in a way that accesses international markets, then there’s just a two-word answer: look west.”

Two B.C. ventures made the first list of five projects Carney recommended for fast-tracking last week. A second tranche of projects is expected by mid-November.

Eby said he won’t be surprised if the list is entirely B.C. projects.

“(W)e have tens of billions of dollars in projects that are well advanced, where we are facing final investment decisions from major countries around the world … and with a strong federal partner by our side we will deliver those projects,” said Eby.

Sankey said that Eby missed a golden opportunity to send a positive signal to would-be proponents of a new West Coast pipeline.

“If I was Eby, I would have said clearly that that B.C., and the north coast in particular, is open to all opportunities, provided they meet our stringent environmental conditions and give Indigenous partners a seat and say in ownership,” said Sankey.

He added that the essential facts, such as the risk of a major marine oil spill, have changed considerably in recent years.

“We can’t keep going back to the old Exxon Valdez flipbook from 30 plus years ago. Things have changed drastically,” said Sankey.

Sankey, who is a member of the local Tsimshian community of Lax Kw’Alaams, said that oil and gas development is a vital pathway to improving standards of living in northwestern B.C., especially among Indigenous residents.

“The reality is that so many of our people are still living below the poverty line. And when people are just barely surviving, they can’t dream,” said Sankey

National Post
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