Agreement between B.C. and Ottawa supports new Alberta pipeline

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CALGARY — The Carney government is moving ahead with a plan that lays out more of the groundwork for a new pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast.

While the exact agreement is yet to be released, some details were released on Thursday, ahead of an availability featuring Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

A news conference with Smith had been scheduled for this morning, but it has been delayed to begin at 6 MT/8 ET.

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Smith inked an agreement with Carney last fall, and their memorandum of understanding pledges to pave the way for a bitumen pipeline to the West Coast.

After that deal, B.C. Premier David Eby voiced his displeasure with the idea, but Thursday’s agreement seems to have smoothed some of that over.

“British Columbia acknowledges Canada’s agreement with Alberta on a new trans-provincial pipeline, which is dependent on construction of the Pathways Carbon Capture and Sequestration project and the duty to consult First Nations,” Carney’s office wrote in an online statement.

“Although B.C. does not seek this project, it recognises its constitutional obligations and commits to acting in good faith to engage in the necessary routing and permitting discussions, within its jurisdiction, provided the following reciprocal commitments are met.”

Some of the terms of the agreement include Ottawa engaging in “early, consistent and meaningful consultation” with Indigenous groups and Ottawa and Alberta agreeing on “an economic and revenue framework” for B.C.

Ottawa will, however, maintain its ban on oil tankers along the northern coast of B.C.

The revenue framework for the agreement will mean that B.C. will be given an annual royalty payment by the pipeline’s operator and there will be an environmental liability and emergency response fund established.

That environmental protection plan will also include more federal investments for “a world leading coastal spill response regime.”

In return, B.C. will need to help optimize the efficiency of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, Carney’s office said.

It said the capacity of that line will increase from 890,000 barrels per day to 1,190,000 barrels per day through “drag-reducing agents and mainline optimization.”

Ottawa will assist with B.C.’s capital costs and B.C. residents will also be entitled to “a fair share” of the economic benefits of the Trans Mountain optimization project.

The pipeline deal is tied to progress on a major carbon capture network by the province’s biggest oil producers, who have said they shouldn’t have to bear the multi-billion dollar cost alone.

Alberta is preparing to hold a referendum this fall on separating from Canada and Smith has said the deal with Ottawa shows Canada can work, but those pushing for the province to quit Confederation say it cannot fix long-standing grievances.

With files from the Canadian Press