CALGARY — The Alberta government pitched the route and builders for a new pipeline to the British Columbia coast, just hours after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a deal with B.C. to make it possible.
Speaking to reporters in Calgary on Thursday evening, Carney and Smith said Alberta has formally been submitted a proposed route for pipeline stretching to the major projects office.
“The profits from this pipeline will generate billions in revenues over the coming decades for the provincial and federal governments, and will enrich Indigenous communities that choose to partner with us,” Smith said.
“This is transformational wealth, an opportunity neither Canada nor Alberta can afford to leave unrealized.”
The proposed pipeline would run from Bruderheim, a town northeast of Edmonton, to a terminal in Delta, B.C., which is south of Vancouver.
It would follow the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, delivering more than one million barrels a day to tankers, which would then ship to Asian markets.
The price tag for the project is between $35.2 billion and $43.7 billion — including contingency fees. The Alberta government says it has already spent $18.3 million planning the project so far.
The province says the goal is to have the pipeline designated as a project of natural interest by the major projects office by Oct. 1.
Smith said the Alberta government is partnering with federally owned Trans Mountain Corporation and Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline for the build.
Alberta’s submission says that the ownership structure has yet to be nailed down. Trans Mountain Corp. said in a statement that the initial partnership has Ottawa and Smith’s government as the majority interest holders.
Mark Maki, the chief executive officer of Trans Mountain, told The Canadian Press he couldn’t say what percentage the Crown corporation would control.
“But as far as our role, we’re there really as the developer, the project manager and then eventually the operator,” he said.
Pembina said in a statement that its interest position sits at 10 per cent, but that could rise to 20 per cent once the pipeline is operational.
It also said the goal is to sign definitive agreements by September.
The environmental group Climate Action Network criticized the project and what Smith calls its initial “public-private partnership.” The group said it “sounds a lot like Canadians will be signing a blank cheque.”
Smith said she thinks it’s a possible a full or greater private sector takeover of the project could occur down the line.
Smith and Carney said the project has opportunities for Indigenous ownership and that details will come. The submission package says the proposed route will go through the traditional territories of as many as 125 Indigenous communities.
It says the province consulted some First Nations before Thursday’s announcement, though it notes many were consulted under the premise that Alberta would be pitching a route to the northern coast rather than the southern one.
Carney said consultations with First Nations on the new route would begin immediately.
Deal with British Columbia
The submission follows the announcement of a wide-reaching deal reached between Ottawa and B.C. Premier David Eby, who has been an outspoken critic of Smith’s pipeline since last fall.
That deal included a commitment from Ottawa to uphold a tanker ban on B.C.’s north coast, as well as pledges that Ottawa would take on financial risks for any potential environmental issues and spills if the pipeline is appoved.
It also promises that B.C. would receive financial compensation via an annual royalty payment for having the pipeline run through it.
Carney’s office said in a statement that Thursday’s agreement has appeared to have smoothed some of Eby’s initial displeasure 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 recognizes 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.”
In return, B.C. will need to help optimize the efficiency of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, Carney’s office said.
Eby said the deal doesn’t force him to support the project, but he conceded that his province wouldn’t fight it in court.
“That’s why this agreement matters. It ensures that the northern tanker ban stays in place, and it ensures that if the pipeline goes ahead, British Columbians are fairly compensated for the environmental risks we would take,” he said.
Another aspect of the B.C. agreement is for Ottawa to commit to $10 billion in infrastructure upgrades at the Roberts Bank Terminal in Delta.
Carney didn’t mention the connection when speaking with Eby, but said the upgrades could create $100 billion in trade capacity and add $3 billion to the country’s economy annually.
Alberta’s submission package says the terminal will need to be designed to accommodate large oil tankers and feature two new loading berths.
Smith and Carney also announced Thursday that they are close to finalizing an agreement with the Oil Sands Alliance for its Pathways carbon capture project.
Last year’s energy deal between Carney and Smith made her pipeline conditional on advancements on the carbon capture deal.
In Camrose, Alta., on Thursday, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized Carney for sticking with the oil tanker ban, calling it a “ridiculous” policy.
He said Canada should be trying to diversify its exporting options, but added that he wasn’t opposed to another southern B.C. Pipeline.
"You got one guy standing in the way of it all, and that’s Mark Carney," Poilievre said. “Provide the permit, let the private sector build it, get out of the way and get it done.”
Tensions between federal, provincial NDP
Meanwhile, the Alberta and federal NDP were at odds over the announcement.
“Today’s news is welcome,” Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said in a written statement.
Nenshi added Alberta is pleased to see the southern route be pledged to the major projects office, as well as see progress on the Pathways carbon capture project.
“It’s a critical step to future-proof our oil sands production,” he said.
Newly-elected federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis, meanwhile, condemned the proposal.
“Today’s announcement shows what this federal government will protect above all else: the profits of Big Oil,” Lewis said.
He added the “opaque” partnership between the public and private sectors will cause the public to “not only bear the risks and the damages, but also the lion’s share of the costs.”
— With files from the Canadian Press
