B.C.’s foot-dragging, fence-sitting position on new oil pipelines collided face-first with reality this week at a first ministers meeting in Saskatoon, where other premiers and the prime minister appeared to pretty much sidestep our province.
Prime Minister Mark Carney emerged to declare he’s moving quickly to prepare legislation that would fast-track projects he deems to be in the national interest, including oil pipelines through B.C.’s coast. The goal is to respond quickly to strengthen Canada’s economy in the wake of trade threats by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Within that are opportunities in energy, critical minerals and well beyond—and specifically within energy opportunities, yes, for an oil pipeline, an oil pipeline to get to tide water,” said Carney.
“Within the broader context of national interest, the interest is in, as mentioned in the press release, decarbonized barrels. So working alongside forms of decarbonization for those barrels, that is absolutely in our interest.
“It provides diversification of trade partners. It provides the development of new industries. It provides economic activity across the west and into the north. So, yes, there's real potential there. We took up a good deal of our time and discussions and potential to move forward on that, and if further developed, the federal government will look to advance it.”
That matches with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s demands for Ottawa to push a new oil pipeline to tidewater through B.C.
“Let's call it the grand bargain,” she said, outlining private projects that could use carbon capture, storage, hydroelectric power or small modular nuclear power to reduce the pollution of oil production. Smith hypothesized Monday, in front of Carney and all the other premiers, that a pipeline to northwestern B.C. with a million-barrel-per-day capacity could generate $20 billion in revenue annually and be financially sustainable using more expensive decarbonized oil.
B.C. Premier David Eby was not at the meeting because he was on a trade mission to Asia. He left Attorney General and Deputy Premier Niki Sharma to toe an untenable line that danced around the issue of pipelines, expressed an unwillingness to speculate on hypotheticals and then kicked discussion down the road to a future date.
“There’s no project yet currently that I’m aware,” Eby said Saturday before departing for his trip. “So if a project is finally proposed and financed, whether it be private or public, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
The new prime minister, though, does not appear to be waiting for B.C.’s metaphorical bridge. He several times in the closing press conference referenced a new pipeline as in the country’s interest.
“First Ministers agreed that Canada must work urgently to get Canadian natural resources and commodities to domestic and international markets, such as critical minerals and decarbonized Canadian oil and gas by pipelines, supported by the private sector, that provide access to diversified global markets, including Asia and Europe,” read the event’s closing communique, which B.C. surprisingly signed on to endorse.
Sharma said nothing at the closing press conference on Monday. Later, she issued a statement that parroted the premier’s earlier lines, as if the ground had not already shifted underneath British Columbia’s feet.
“We are focusing on these shovel-ready projects, not theoretical projects with no proponents,” said Sharma.
The province’s position has been further muddied by Eby previously telling B.C. reporters that the province does not support another oil pipeline, despite the wait-and-see attitude he projects nationally.
Regardless, Smith and Carney started discussing details on Monday, with Carney saying he’s tabling legislation to try and bring a national approval process for key projects down to within a two-year timeline, and Smith saying she’ll use that certainty to help hunt down a proponent.
“There is an ability to build that energy infrastructure, that oil pipeline … to Premier Smith’s answer moments ago about a grand bargain, decarbonizing the barrels, various ways to do that, I agree with her,” said Carney. “And so the opportunity is there. The market is there in Asia.”
It sounds like a prime minister moving forward, while the B.C. government sits still.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 17 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for The Orca/BIV. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
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