Carney’s push for new pipeline hits flashpoints across Canada

“Deeply reckless and frustrating” is how one environmental group describes Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to fast-track a pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast, as the move draws criticism across Canada.

Carney’s announcement that the West Coast Oil Pipeline, now known as Pacific Link, will be listed as a project of national interest is generating significant concerns from environmental, political and Indigenous groups. 

The new designation means the pipeline, which is expected to carry one million barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta to BC, will be fast-tracked via the Major Projects Office. 

This designation is in line with the Liberal government’s newly tabled Building Canada Strong Act (Bill C-39), which accelerates project approvals — and environmental assessments — for projects deemed in the national interest.

Projects receiving the national interest designation are required, according to the Carney government’s own legislation, to meet a number of criteria, including contributing to the country’s objectives around clean growth. Janetta McKenzie, director of the oil and gas program at the Pembina Institute, says Pacific Link fails that test.

“To be frank, this pipeline is not aligned with clean growth and meeting Canada’s climate objectives. We’re talking about 20, 25 megatonnes of extra emissions per year,” she said in an interview with Canada’s National Observer.

The pipeline is billed as being attached to the Pathways carbon capture project, but Pathway’s targets were scaled back from an original goal of 22 megatonnes of carbon capture per year to only 16 mta.

Both McKenzie and Masson are also concerned that the tolls required to earn back the pipeline investment (costs are projected to surpass $40 billion) could render it uncompetitive with other options, which may be holding back producers.

McKenzie says estimates from her organization suggest tolls for Pacific Link will be at least 1.1 to 1.8 times higher than current TMX tolls. 

“That suggests that this new pipeline would be the most expensive one to ship oil through,” she said.

‘Devastating environmental damage at every phase’

“It is a deeply reckless and frustrating decision that the government is making here,” said Emilia Belliveau, energy transition program manager at Environmental Defence in an interview with Canada’s National Observer. 

“There’s devastating environmental damage at every phase of this infrastructure project.”

Belliveau listed several environmental concerns that would follow the pipeline’s construction, including toxic tailings ponds and damage to ecosystems along the West Coast, particularly the habitat of the endangered Southern Resident killer whale.

Over the years, the Southern Resident population has dwindled to 73 individuals. The pipeline and its associated tanker traffic could put further pressure on the population by increasing the risk of oil spills and underwater noise.

On Tuesday, the federal government announced $1.2 billion in funding for ocean protection, but some environmental groups say it is not enough.

Georgia Lloyd-Smith, staff lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law said she was “disappointed” by the announcement.

“I think this project on the whole is not in the national interest,” she said, in an interview with Canada’s National Observer. “It would mean handcuffing Canada’s economy to the fossil fuel industry at a time when the global economy is transitioning to clean energy.”

Lloyd-Smith raised concerns about the killer whale populations and the risk to ecosystems in the Salish Sea.

“There’s concern that the soil stability in Delta, where the proposed tanker terminal would be built, is prone to liquefaction or liquefying in the event of an earthquake, which is deeply concerning considering that crude oil would be stored. So, there’s a risk of an oil spill from the land as well,” she said.

Political reaction

Though the announcement received broad support in Alberta, federal political parties had mixed reactions.

“Greens are outraged that the Cabinet has made a decision without even a cursory review of the evidence, committing Canadians to wasting another $40-billion-plus of public dollars on an uneconomic, climate-killing pipeline,” said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, in an email to Canada’s National Observer.

“I defy the Carney Cabinet to find a single climate scientist who could defend their claim that the additional GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions are not ‘material.’”

May also added that the Green Party would “stand with First Nations and do everything we can to stop this costly, reckless mistake.”

NDP Leader Avi Lewis called the pipeline “an offence to Canadian science, public health, collective safety, and common sense.”

“This project leaves Canadians bearing all the risks of a bad investment without any of the rewards,” he said in an online statement. “Indigenous nations have expressed opposition. And the environmental and climate consequences are extreme, including the threat to endangered Southern Resident orcas.”

Indigenous groups also voiced opposition to the announcement. 

The pipeline, which will cut through First Nations lands, is jointly owned by Canada and Alberta, but Indigenous communities will be offered a minimum of 10 per cent ownership interest in it. One hundred and 30 Indigenous communities in Alberta and BC were consulted before the pipeline was given its new designation, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s office. 

But not all communities say they were consulted meaningfully.

“There is anger in our community today, as we hear that Canada has given the green light to a third Trans Mountain pipeline through the Coldwater Valley. The Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate Coldwater remains unfilled and Canada and Trans Mountain are not legally or respectfully operating in our reserve,” said Vice-Chief Michael Smithers, of Coldwater Indian Band, in an emailed statement.  

According to Smithers, the government held a three-month consultation period prior to the pipeline’s designation, but Coldwater Indian Reserve was faced with a wildfire — and forced evacuations — for two of those months. Requests to extend the consultation period were ignored, he said. 

“I don’t know how they can commit to rigorous consultation and building in partnership with

Indigenous communities when they haven’t dealt with their existing obligations yet and don’t seem to be listening to our concerns,” said Smithers.

Further consultations with Indigenous groups are expected to continue in the coming year.

–With files from Zoe Mason