Pipeline and extortions dominate as Eby meets with Carney, Smith, other premiers

The wave of extortion-related violence and the ongoing opposition to a new pipeline to the B.C. coast were key issues discussed at David Eby’s Ottawa meeting.

British Columbia’s premier is in Ottawa for a string of meetings with federal officials, his peers, and the prime minister, where he’s already discussed everything from the extortion crisis to the FIFA World Cup—but much of the focus has been on the potential for another pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast.

The first ministers met Wednesday, but not until after David Eby had a one-on-one with Mark Carney, then a trilateral meeting where the two were joined by Alta. Premier Danielle Smith,.

At a media photo op before the tete-a-tete, the trio exchanged pleasantries and Smith revealed she’d just enjoyed some time in Whistler, before they got down to business behind closed doors.

Extortion meeting with officials in Surrey

One of Eby’s key meetings was with the federal public safety minister, Gary Anandasangaree, on the issues of extortion demands and violence faced by the South Asian community in B.C. and several other provinces.

As a result, Eby announced that he and the prime minister agreed that within the next two weeks police leadership from Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario would convene with national police officials in Surrey.

“We can ensure there are no gaps in sharing information, that all resources that are needed have been delivered,” he said. “The prime minister (also) committed additional RCMP resources to British Columbia to allow us to free up our resources from the (Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit) that are already participating in the task force.”

Trilateral meeting on potential pipeline

On his trilateral meeting with Smith and Carney, Eby described the tone as “very civil in the meeting and borderline friendly,” and fielded multiple questions on the topic from reporters, emphasizing that there’s no pipeline route identified and no formal proposal from any company.

“Alberta has committed to keep British Columbia up to date on their progress on this project,” he said. “If they are successful in finding a proponent, and as they identify potential sites along the coast that they wish to propose to the federal government for this project, I underlined the crucial importance of engaging with First Nations through this process.”

He also held firm on supporting the existing tanker ban.

“The tanker ban off the coast of British Columbia is there for a reason and it’s been there across multiple governments,” Eby said. “It is an incredibly treacherous stretch of water and a spill of bitumen will decimate the North Coast economy, causing billions of dollars in damage and there are alternatives to this project that are far more realistic and timely, not the least of which is the optimization of the publicly owned Trans Mountain Pipeline project, a project that the public already owns.”

The premier added that neither he nor Smith are letting their differences on the pipeline issue impede on discussion around “matters of shared interest.” He said he also told Carney that B.C. needs federal support for World Cup security and CUSMA negotiations, which he expects tomorrow.