The Alberta government is set to announce an energy project Wednesday that could have big implications for B.C.
Premier Danielle Smith will be joined by reps from Calgary-based oil and gas company Cenovus Energy at a media event.
Details of the announcement are limited, but in recent months, Smith has been vocal about wanting to build a new pipeline from Alberta to the north coast of B.C.
Meanwhile, Premier David Eby has criticized the push.
“There is actually no project here,” Eby said in June, noting no interest from the private sector at the time.
In July, coastal First Nations issued an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, asking him to reject any new proposal for a crude oil pipeline to the northwest coast.
The group is asking Carney to uphold the 2019 Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, which prohibits oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of crude from stopping, loading or unloading at ports or marine installations along the north coast.
It says the act is Canada’s recognition of more than 50 years of effort to protect the north Pacific coast, which includes the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii, from the risks of an oil spill.
Smith is expected to speak around 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
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—With files from The Canadian Press