'We have to get a signal': Smith calls for Carney to include Alberta's pipeline pitch in next batch of major projects
OTTAWA —The push to build a new oil pipeline is now “very much” in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s court, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Wednesday, as her government revealed it would lead the planning for a new project.
Smith announced that her United Conservative Party government would be the initial proponent for a new pipeline that would carry upwards of a million barrels of Alberta bitumen a day to the northern coast of British Columbia, with an application submitted to the new federal Major Projects Office by May 2026.
Her move inches Carney’s government one step closer to having to decide whether to include an oil pipeline on its list of nation-building projects that are eligible to receive more streamlined approvals.
With the prime minister set to announce the next batch of projects within the next six weeks, Smith called for Carney to include her new pipeline proposal, saying it was the “trigger” companies need to come forward as proponents.
“We have to get a signal from the federal government that they’re going to work with us rather than against us as they have for the past 10 years,” the premier told reporters during a news conference in Calgary, Alta.
“It’s very much in the prime minister’s court.”
While relations between Alberta and Ottawa have warmed significantly since Carney entered office, approving the construction of a new oil pipeline remains a major test in the relationship, especially to B.C’s northern coast, a route that has in the past sparked widespread protest from environmental groups and impacted First Nations.
B.C. NDP Premier David Eby told reporters on Wednesday that he does not consider Alberta’s latest pipeline push “a real project,” confirming the two premiers spoke ahead of Smith’s announcement.
“I asked her two very straightforward questions: Is there a private company advancing this proposal?” Answer is no. Is there any private money advancing this proposal? The answer is no.”
Among the criteria Carney’s government has laid out for a project to be considered for more streamlined approvals is its likelihood of success, Indigenous participation, and showing “clean growth potential.”
His government has named a carbon capture and storage project in Alberta called Pathways Plus as one that it has an interest in seeing developed further when the first batch of projects was announced last month in Edmonton.
So far, the federal government has named a liquified natural gas expansion in B.C., two critical mineral mining projects, one in B.C. and another in Saskatchewan, on its initial list, along with a nuclear project in Ontario, and expansions to the Port of Montreal.
When all 13 premiers and territorial leaders met back in June to discuss what the criteria would be for considering a project to be in the national interest, they agreed to promote “decarbonized Canadian oil and gas.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said the government has been clear on that point.
“We have listed Pathways Plus as a transformative strategy for Canada and have been clear that a pipeline project must move forward in conjunction with the Pathways Project, which will decarbonize our oil sands to the equivalent of taking over 4.75 million cars off the road.”
The Pathways Project refers to a group of oilsands companies that have been advocating for building a carbon capture and storage network that would carry carbon emissions from facilities in Cold Lake, Alta., through a pipeline and store it underground.
Speaking before Wednesday’s announcement, Alberta government officials clarified that the project was separate from the oil pipeline it was pitching.
In his statement, Hodgson said that any project being pitched “will be evaluated against the same rules for all proponents.”
“If Alberta wishes to be the initial proponent and funder of a pipeline to the West Coast and put it forward to the (Major Projects Office), that is within their right to do so. We have an active and constructive dialogue with Alberta and will always look for ways to advance shared priorities.”
Critics have argued that when it comes to the question of approving a new pipeline, no proponents have yet come forward, rendering the question of whether Carney’s government should consider listing it as a nation-building project moot.
Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, who previously served as environment minister under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, told reporters before Smith’s announcement that for a project to be included on the federal list, it must be more than an “idea.”
He added that for a pipeline to be run through B.C.’s northern coast, the provincial government and First Nations along the route would have to agree.
Meanwhile, supporters, including Smith herself, blame a suite of federal Liberal energy policies, such as the emissions cap and tanker ban off B.C.’s northern coast, for blocking development.
Smith has called on Carney to scrap those policies and has expressed a hopefulness in working with the prime minister, who has voiced an openness to seeing a new pipeline built, saying he wants to transform Canada into an “energy superpower.”
Eby called that tanker ban “foundational” to British Columbians as well as many First Nations who want to see its coastline protected.
In a technical briefing before the official announcement, Alberta government officials emphasized that no company has yet come forward as a proponent and that a specific route has yet to be determined, but that it could run from Edmonton to Kitimat or Prince Rupert, B.C.
It announced that its technical working group on the pipeline project included industry representatives, along with three major energy companies: South Bow, Enbridge, and Trans Mountain. The Alberta government also pledged to put $14 million towards the technical work.
The ultimate goal from Alberta, provincial officials said, was for a private proponent to take on the project, but said the government was leading the planning phase because no company was ready to do so, given past unsuccessful attempts to get one built, from Energy East to Keystone XL and the Northern Gateway projects.
The officials also clarified that talks have been ongoing for several weeks with Carney’s government.
National Post
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