B.C. energy minister frustrated with communications over potential Alberta pipeline routes

British Columbia’s Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions expressed frustration Tuesday over last week’s revelation that the Alberta government is studying the possibility of four different pipeline routes to the north coast of B.C.

Adrian Dix, who was in Calgary on Tuesday for the start of the Global Energy Show, called it “pretty late in the process” for the B.C. government to learn of the proposals.

However, he also rejected suggestions that B.C. was “caught off guard,” saying any proposal for a pipeline from Alberta to B.C.’s North Coast faces “significant fundamental challenges,” because so far it has no private-sector backer and a federal ban on tanker traffic along the North Coast remains in place.

News that the Alberta government is considering several possible routes for the pipeline, including three through northern B.C., became public last week after CBC News obtained documents showing the potential routes.

All three of the northern routes would require lifting of the federal tanker ban, something the B.C. government and many First Nations oppose.

Another route would see the pipeline built along a southern route, ending in the Vancouver area.

The Alberta government has also released a new promotional video as it continues to make its case for a new oil pipeline to the B.C. Coast.

So far, the B.C. government has said it is being left out of the discussions.

Dix was repeatedly pressed by reporters in Calgary on Tuesday about whether he intended to have any conversations with the Alberta government about a possible pipeline.

“To suggest that, three weeks before you’re going to unveil your project, you have different routes you’re considering — that’s interesting to me.”

But Dix added he’s attending the Global Energy Show to focus on B.C. projects, including ones that already have industry proponents.

The Alberta government hopes to present a final pipeline proposal to Ottawa by July 1.

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