Alberta Premier Smith ‘going to convince’ B.C.’s Eby to build pipeline through their provinces

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks about ongoing efforts to get energy projects approved and working with B.C.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’s ready to convince her counterpart in British Columbia to support building a pipeline to transport oil from her province, through his, to tidewater.

B.C. Premier David Eby said last week he won’t support a new pipeline, arguing the Trans Mountain Expansion Project is already in place.

Smith’s comments come after Prime Minister Mark Carney kicked off the week with a much-anticipated first ministers’ meeting on Monday, focusing largely on identifying so-called nation-building projects. Among them: a potential oil pipeline to tidewater.

Then, on Friday, Carney introduced legislation aimed at spurring interprovincial free trade, easing labour mobility, and speeding up the approval of a select but unspecified number of big projects in the national interest.

Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill after the bill was tabled, however, Carney said his government would not impose any project on a province that isn’t in favour of it, and that all projects will require consensus to go ahead.

Smith, in an interview with CTV’s Question Period, was asked by host Vassy Kapelos where that emphasis on consensus leaves her pitch for a new pipeline, considering Eby has expressed opposition.

“I think everybody is focusing on one particular project,” Smith said, pointing to other potential projects in different provinces. “I’m rooting for all of my provincial neighbours. I want to do everything I can to support them, and I think that’s the spirit that will prevail.”

“There’s some things that we need to do to address some of the objections, but I think the Team Canada spirit is going to prevail at the end,” she added.

When asked by Kapelos whether it can be inferred from her comments that “a pipeline that carries oil from Alberta through to B.C. is not the be-all, end all,” Smith said: “No.”

“I’m saying that I’m going to convince David Eby of it, because I know that this is good for the country,” Smith said. “I know that he’s on Team Canada, and I can’t imagine, in the end, that if we meet the issues that have been raised by British Columbia, that he would go off team Canada. That doesn’t seem to me to be the type of person that David Eby is.”

The Alberta premier said while there are concerns that would likely need to be addressed — such as the pipeline’s route and buy-in from Indigenous communities — she’s confident those issues can be overcome.

“I recognize that there’s a quid pro quo here, that there has to be a way for everyone to benefit and to address legitimate concerns being raised,” Smith said. “That’s what we’re prepared to do.”

Transport and Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, in an interview on CTV’s Question Period, was asked by Kapelos who will ultimately make a decision about such a pipeline.

In response, Freeland said the legislation is about identifying potential nation-building projects, adding she’s “excited about the possibilities,” and pointing to other pitches.

When pressed on the pipeline specifically, considering the opposition to it, Freeland said the communiqué coming out of Monday’s first ministers’ meeting specifically mentioned pipelines.

“It talked about lots of projects. It included pipelines,” she said. “It talked about pipelines to export natural gas and decarbonized oil, so that is very much an option on the table.”

“The prime minister was also really clear that projects are going to need the consent of the provinces involved,” she also said, adding the bill tabled in the House is not a specific list of projects.