New pipeline support among First Nations '50/50 right now,' says Alberta minister planning consultations
OTTAWA — Alberta Indigenous Affairs Minister Rajan Sawhney says vocal opposition from some Indigenous groups won’t affect her government’s timeline for proposing a new West Coast pipeline to Ottawa by mid-2026.
In fact, she says that the real work of engaging with the First Nations along the pipeline’s route will start in earnest after the application is submitted to the federal government’s Major Projects Office in May.
“Actual true consultation with Indigenous communities is not going to begin until we put our application in,” Sawhney said.
No Alberta infrastructure proposals were included in the federal government’s two waves of project announcements since the Major Project Office’s opening in late August . But the province agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Ottawa on a new oil pipeline to the West Coast in November, and aims to have one added to the list of federally backed major projects.
The plan would require a carve-out from the federal oil tanker ban in Canadian waters off the northwest coast, and has already faced opposition from some groups.
Coastal First Nations, a registered non-profit activist organization representing some B.C. Indigenous bands opposed to development in the area, has been an especially strong opponent of the idea.
Sawhney said the loudest voices don’t speak for all Indigenous communities that would be impacted by the pipeline’s construction.
“In every community I’ve visited, they say ‘no one speaks for us except for us’,” said Sawhney.
Sawhney visited B.C. three times in 2025 and is planning a fourth trip in February.
She concedes that she has a long road ahead to dispel the skepticism surrounding a new pipeline.
“It’s 50/50 right now, between support and what I’m going to call concern,” Sawhney said. “There have been two nations who’ve said ‘hell no.’ Everybody else has been asking questions around things like: can we do this safely and without a major spill?”
Sawhney says she expects these concerns to die down once her government has a chance to address common misconceptions about moving and shipping oil.
“We have to talk about technology and innovation. We have to talk about tankers and how the technology has improved there,” said Sawhney.
Sawhney said that multiple First Nations bands have told her they’d like to see the B.C. Lower Mainland’s Western Canada Marine Spill Response Corporation , which patrols the recently expanded Trans Mountain pipeline for spills, replicated on the North Coast.
The endorsement of a new West Coast pipeline by the Major Projects Office would start a two-year clock toward the project’s final approval. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that projects fast-tracked by the new office must advance Canadian and Indigenous economic interests .
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the pipeline would bring billions of dollars of royalty and tax to federal and provincial governments by serving booming markets in the Indo-Pacific region. No private proponents has come forward yet to build the pipeline, although the province has put up $14 million to support early regulatory and technical work.
Polling on this topic is hard to come by, but one 2022 study found that a slim majority of Indigenous people across Canada supported oil and gas development.
Data from the 2021 Census shows that oil and gas is the highest-paying sector for Indigenous workers, paying nearly three times the prevailing wage in other fields.
Heather Exner-Pirot, Director of Natural Resources, Energy and Environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, says that pipelines tend to have a smaller ecological footprint than other large-scale resource projects, making the constitutional duty to consult with affected Indigenous groups less onerous.
“Impacts from pipelines tend to be more minor and temporary, when comparing, for example, to a mine. Their challenge is they cross many territories and must adequately consult many Indigenous groups,” said Exner-Pirot. “The duty is about reasonably mitigating impacts to Aboriginal rights such as hunting, fishing and cultural use of the land.”
Exner-Pirot added that the standard will likely be higher for communities located near the potential terminus for a pipeline, where there would be the largest impact. The residents of Kitimat, B.C., near the proposed terminus of the cancelled Northern Gateway Pipeline, had narrowly voted against the project by a 58-42 margin in 2014.
Exner-Pirot stressed that the consent of all Indigenous groups along the route is not necessary for the pipeline to go forward.
“It is clear that Canadian law does not require Indigenous consent for pipelines. This has been reiterated in multiple recent challenges in (northern B.C.),” said Exner-Pirot.
Sawhney says she’s shelving the surveys and plebiscites for now and focusing on one-on-one conversations.
“From what I’ve heard from First Nations is that there’s a lot of consultation, engagement, polling, surveying, fatigue … The best thing we can do, at the moment, is get out there in person,” said Sawhney.
She added that she’s aware of tensions surrounding reconciliation in B.C. — such as the backlash to August’s Cowichan Tribes decision , affirming Aboriginal title over tracts of private property near Vancouver, and calls to repeal provincial legislation enshrining the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People — but says she’s staying neutral on these matters.
“Alberta is focused on promoting economic reconciliation within its own jurisdiction,” said Sawhney. “Decisions regarding legislation in British Columbia rest with that province.”
Sawhney said Alberta would not be participating in the appeal of the Cowichan Tribes decision.
National Post
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