AFN vote against northern pipeline shows there are better ideas to move oil, Dix says

B.C. Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions Adrian Dix speaks before touring greenhouses at Windset Farms, in Delta, B.C., Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s energy minister says a vote from chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations gathering in Ottawa to uphold the oil tanker ban is more support for the provincial argument that there are better alternatives than a northern coast pipeline.

Chiefs representing more than 600 First Nations voted unanimously to ask Ottawa to uphold the oil tanker ban off the northern coast and withdraw the MOU signed last week between the federal and Alberta governments.

Adrian Dix says the assembly’s vote reflects the historic position of First Nations, and the memorandum was signed “in spite of the fact that there is no project, no proponent, no possibility of the project going forward.”

Dix says a new pipeline across northern B.C. doesn’t make economic sense and no one is “proposing seriously any pipeline to the south” either.

The minister says optimizing existing pipelines rather than building new ones cost a “fraction of what is being proposed,” and B.C. is always open to meet with Alberta on the idea of expanding existing oil shipping capacity.

Marilyn Slett, president of the Coastal First Nations, says in a statement that her organization is grateful for the support from the assembly, and that protecting B.C.’s northern coast is not “an item for negotiation” but something that the federal government must uphold.

Both the Coastal First Nations and Premier David Eby have said that the federal government must have the consent of nations before going ahead with a northern pipeline project that would require that the tanker ban be lifted.

Eby has said the proposed pipeline is a distraction from existing projects, and he warned against it becoming an “energy vampire” that takes away limited resources by all levels of government.

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This report by Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press, was first published Dec. 2, 2025.