Mark Carney reaches deal with Alberta for oil pipeline opposed by First Nations | Canada

Mark Carney has struck an energy deal with Alberta centered on plans for a new heavy-duty oil pipeline from the province’s tar sands to the Pacific coast, a politically unstable project expected to face strong opposition.

“It’s a great day for Alberta and a great day for Canada,” the Prime Minister said Thursday during his meeting with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. He said the deal “lays the foundation for industrial transformation” and involves not only a pipeline, but also nuclear power and data centers. “This is Canada working,” he said.

The deal was praised by Smith for its potential to “unleash” investment in the province.

Carney and Smith made the announcement after weeks of negotiations, which mark a sea change in the relationship between the federal government and Alberta. The two men have clashed in recent years amid accusations from Alberta that Ottawa is harming its economic potential by limiting carbon emissions.

The principle of the agreement is to increase oil and gas exports while trying to meet the federal government’s climate goals. Carney’s government will exempt a potential pipeline project from the current coastal tanker moratorium and emissions cap. In return, Alberta must increase industrial carbon pricing and invest in a multibillion-dollar carbon capture project.

But it’s important to note that no companies have expressed interest in supporting the project, which would likely face strong opposition from the province of British Columbia and First Nations communities on the Pacific Coast.

The move also reflects a policy shift by Carney, who, before entering politics, gained qualifications as an economist guiding capital markets toward a net-zero future. Now he must sell a plan that seems at odds with those values.

The deal has already drawn grumbling from lawmakers in Carney’s liberal party. Minister Gregor Robertson, for example, opposed the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project when he was mayor of Vancouver, calling it environmentally irresponsible. Carney also must convince former Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, a longtime environmental activist who is now Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture.

Talks between Alberta and the federal government have notably excluded neighboring British Columbia, whose premier has expressed strong opposition to a new pipeline passing through his province. David Eby has said he is opposed to a pipeline and the prospect of allowing tanker traffic through the narrow, stormy waters of the north coast. His government instead proposed increasing the capacity of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline.

But the Alberta government insists it wants a new pipeline, not just increased capacity, and has repeatedly pledged to submit a proposal by spring.

Before passing a bill in June that gave his government the power to bypass environmental regulations and fast-track projects in the national interest, Carney said any new pipeline would have to have the support of First Nations whose territory is not ceded to the provincial or federal governments.

However, even before Carney and Smith made their announcement, First Nations declared that any new pipeline was effectively dead on arrival.

“We are here to remind the Alberta government, the federal government and any potential private developer that we will never allow oil tankers to travel on our coast and that this pipeline project will never happen,” said Marilyn Slett, president of the Coastal First Nations (CFN), a group that represents eight First Nations along the coast.

Slett, the elected chief of the Heiltsuk Tribal Council, previously warned of the risks of an oil spill in a sparsely populated region with little rapid response infrastructure, after witnessing a 100,000 liter diesel spill near her community in 2016. She said no agreement could “nullify our inherent and constitutional rights and title, or deter our deep interconnectedness of mutual respect for the ocean.”