Carney says ‘constructive’ talks ongoing with Alberta about oil pipeline

Prime Minister Mark Carney says discussions between the federal and Alberta governments on a potential oil pipeline to British Columbia’s northern coast are ongoing, addressing speculation this week that a framework agreement was close.

In comments made during his trip to the G20 summit in South Africa, Carney spoke about the talks for the first time.

“So the discussion around oil pipelines, for example, and this is the language of Premier Smith of a grand bargain, is absolutely related to other aspects of policy in Alberta, if it were a pipeline from Alberta, as well as investment in carbon capture and storage, so that these are effectively carbonized, would decarbonize barrels,” Carney said.

Speculation of an oil pipeline from Alberta has been ongoing for weeks, despite one not being announced in both the first and second list of major projects the government is submitting for fast-track approval.

The Alberta government said in October it planned to apply to build the pipeline and would submit the application to Ottawa next spring.

When Carney announced his second projects list last week, Smith said she was on board with the projects but added negotiations with Ottawa about such a pipeline were ongoing.

The prime minister, when asked at the time if he was having discussions about a separate “grand bargain” with Alberta, called it a “memorandum of understanding” and said that discussions were going well.

He echoed those comments Sunday.

“Those discussions are ongoing. They have been constructive,” Carney said. “There is a prospect of an agreement, it’s not finalized so, in my experience in these things, when things aren’t final it’s better not to overly speculate where they’re going from there.”

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The Globe and Mail reported Wednesday that the federal government was considering allowing some tanker traffic on B.C.’s North Coast.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) previously noted by Carney is said would include new or expanded port facilities in Prince Rupert or Kitimat, which would require at least a partial repeal of the North Coast tanker ban.

But even as Carney says talks are ongoing, B.C. Premier David Eby has consistently expressed disagreement at the idea, though indicate on Friday that he wants to be a team player with Canada.

“We have been quite frank with Alberta and with the federal government that although we never supported the pipeline and we’re not enthusiastic about it, we’re good team players on Team Canada and we are willing to do what we can to support and expansion project if it’s needed,” Eby said.

Smith also has appeared to soften her tone a little, saying she now agrees with B.C. to look at expanding the use of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline first.

“We also agree that Trans Mountain pipelines should be maximized,” she said earlier this week.

The federal government has previously said it would seek support for the pipeline project from the B.C. government and First Nations communities, with Carney telling reporters on Sunday that any national project including a pipeline must have full support of Indigenous peoples.

—with files from Global News’ David Akin, Amy Judd and Jillian Piper

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