Crude oil is loaded onto tankers at the Trans Mountain Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is not satisfied by a proposal to increase the capacity of the pipeline by 40 per cent.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Trans Mountain Corp.’s plans to boost capacity of the oil pipeline system is not enough to satisfy Alberta, nor are they enough of an incentive for it to sign onto any energy accord with Ottawa, Premier Danielle Smith said Thursday.
Ms. Smith’s comments follow a Globe and Mail report that said B.C. is prepared to support increased capacity for the Trans Mountain pipeline. She also said that Canada needs to build new pipelines and expand existing ones in all directions.
The project would increase capacity by roughly 40 per cent.
The current government’s position is a sharp departure from years of opposition to the initial Trans Mountain project.
Federal insiders recently told The Globe that Ottawa and Alberta appeared close to striking a memorandum of understanding long sought by the premier, which would involve an oil pipeline running from Alberta to the northwest coast of British Columbia.
B.C. Premier David Eby, in a statement Thursday, said he was caught off guard by The Globe’s report that Alberta and Ottawa are negotiating an energy accord that could affect British Columbia.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Canada needs to build new pipelines and expand existing ones in all directions.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
“These talks about eliminating the ban on oil tankers off our coast have taken place without anyone from British Columbia at the table. Like many British Columbians, I learned of these talks through a news article,” he said. “First Nation leaders, whose support is required to move any project forward, were also unaware and excluded from these talks.”
B.C. has also given a green light to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to dredge the Second Narrows waterway to allow tankers to load more oil at the Trans Mountain marine terminal in Burnaby.
Alberta is looking for an exemption to the current ban on oil tankers on the B.C. coast, a plan to move ahead with changes to industrial carbon pricing in support of scaling up carbon capture technology, and a lowering or removal of the industrial emissions cap.
Ms. Smith told reporters Thursday that she is “still very hopeful” that an agreement of some kind can be reached soon. Players in the federal and Alberta governments have been expressing optimism that a deal is within reach and could be announced in time for next weekend’s United Conservative Party of Alberta convention.