As Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government gets ready to reveal the first projects chosen as “nationally important,” Radio-Canada has learned that no oil pipelines are on the list, according to three separate sources.
“There is no oil pipeline project on the table,” one source said, even though the federal government has promised to make Canada an “energy superpower.”
During the election campaign, Carney did not rule out supporting a new pipeline. “We have to choose a few major projects—not necessarily pipelines, but maybe pipelines—we’ll see,” he said on the French-language TV show Tout le monde en parle. He also stressed the need to work with provinces to build agreement.
A Liberal insider told Radio-Canada that leaving pipelines off the first list does not mean there will never be one. The government could still approve a natural gas pipeline in the future.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has pushed for a pipeline to connect the oilsands to northern British Columbia. She met with Carney earlier this summer to discuss pipelines. Carney made it clear that a private developer would have to take the lead, but no companies have shown interest so far.
Smith’s office blames current federal rules for discouraging pipeline projects. They pointed to the oil and gas emissions cap and the tanker ban off northern B.C. as barriers. “Until these policies are changed or removed, we won’t attract the investment needed to grow our energy industry,” her office said in a written statement.
Last May, Smith warned Carney in a letter that leaving a pipeline off the first list would “send a sobering signal” about Ottawa’s commitment to national unity. She plans to wait for the official announcement before commenting further but is expected to bring up the issue again when she meets Carney on Wednesday in Edmonton.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said he also spoke with Smith and added, “We always said this would be evolving… what we need are projects of strategic national interest to rebuild this country.”
Some Liberal MPs are reportedly forming a new environmental caucus to push for stronger action on climate change. Skipping pipelines in the first wave of announcements could reassure the party’s progressive members.
Carney’s government has already made several big policy changes: ending carbon pricing for consumers, passing Bill C-5 to speed up environmental reviews, and suspending zero-emission vehicle sales targets.
The last major oil pipeline completed in Canada was the Trans Mountain expansion, which the Trudeau government bought for $4.7 billion in 2018 after the original builder, Kinder Morgan, backed out. The cost to finish the project soared to over $34 billion—far higher than the initial $21-billion estimate.
