The federal government will provide billions of dollars in support for B.C. projects and guarantee that North Coast oil tanker restrictions will remain in place in exchange for a commitment from the province not to oppose a new pipeline from Alberta to the coast.
“We will not be going to court to fight a pipeline project,” B.C. Premier David Eby said in Vancouver on Thursday, July 2. “Instead, we will ensure we fulfill our constitutional obligations in good faith.”
“Pipelines are federal jurisdiction. That’s why this agreement matters. It ensures that the Northern Tanker Ban stays in place.”
Projects receiving federal funds will include the Massey Tunnel, the Red Chris mine and the North Coast Transmission Line project, which is being built to electrify mines and liquefied natural gas projects. Other commitments include revitalizing ports, boosting forestry, steel and LNG sectors, and collaborating on new clean power projects.
Eby returned early from a trade mission to China to appear alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney in Vancouver to announce the agreement and sign a memorandum of understanding.
The estimated total federal support is around $20 billion. Carney said the North Coast Transmission Line will get about $3.5 billion, and the Massey Tunnel will get up to $3 billion. In addition, the federal government will support $10 billion in upgrades to the Roberts Bank port terminal and invest about $500 million in the Red Chris mine.
The two sides also committed to working on a national carbon credits framework and implementing environmental protections for coastal ecosystems.
And Carney pledged that the ban on heavy oil tankers docking along B.C.’s North Coast will remain in place even if a new pipeline is built, something area First Nations have insisted on.
“We’re also clear that today’s Canada-B.C. agreement will maintain the federal North Coast tanker ban in accordance with a proposed route of a new trans-provincial pipeline under the bilateral agreement with Canada and Alberta,” Carney said.
B.C. is also promised royalty payments from any new pipeline and an environmental liability fund held in trust by the province and First Nations.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is set to announce details of her province’s pipeline proposal in the afternoon. Carney will fly to Alberta for that announcement and said he would not reveal details until then. Retaining the tanker ban makes a northern route more difficult, and a new southern route more likely.
Eby pushed back on the notion this agreement is just a response to the Alberta deal.
“To look at this as an Alberta agreement is again to do a disservice to British Columbia and the remarkable and incredible growth that is happening here in this province,” he said. “This is a B.C. agreement about B.C. projects.”