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One day after the premiers of Alberta and Ontario unveiled the route a proposed cross-Canadian oil pipeline, Premier Wab Kinew refused to say what he thinks of a corridor that would span the width of southern Manitoba.
On Monday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford stood up on a stage in Calgary and displayed a map of the Northern Shield pipeline, a proposed 3,300-kilometre link between oil refineries in Hardisty, Alta. and ones in Sarnia, Ont.
The proposed route shows the pipeline running directly through Winnipeg.
In August 2025, Ford, Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe agreed to explore the feasibility of an east-west oil pipeline.
Kinew did not sign on, stating he prefers to consult Indigenous nations from the start of any major infrastructure or resource-extraction project.
“In other parts of the country with other levels of government, there’s the commitment to maybe push things through with legislation first. That puts other partners on the back foot,” Kinew said at the time.
Since then, Kinew has made repeated statements in support of a natural gas pipeline to the Port of Churchill.
On Monday, Ford suggested the construction of an east-west oil pipeline could result in a spur line to the Port of Churchill.
“I think the world of Premier Kinew. I’ve said it 100 times. I think the guy’s a champion. He has to consult more with his folks in Manitoba. We’ll work something out,” Ford said.
On Tuesday, Kinew was asked repeatedly what he thinks of the pipeline proposed by Ford and Smith. He declined to address the question and spoke instead about the sovereignty referendum slated for Alberta this fall.
“You know, I love Alberta and I love Albertans so anything we can do to wrap our arms around them and give them a big old hug, I’m open to,” Kinew said during a virtual press conference in Arviat, Nunavut.
“I want Canada to stick together no matter what. I wish there wasn’t referendum happening in Alberta this fall, but if there is going to continue to be this referendum question, then I’m open to supporting all sorts of different opportunities to send a message to Albertans that we value them in Canada.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, left, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford swap belt buckles after announcing the Northern Shield pipeline proposal in Calgary, Monday, July 6, 2026. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)
In Winnipeg, reaction to the proposed pipeline route and Kinew’s decision to ignore it were mixed.
Both the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the Southern Chiefs’ Organization said governments must carry out the duty to consult and accommodate First Nations before they embark on any major projects.
AMC Grand Chief Kyra Wilson noted there have been no consultations with First Nations leaders about either an east-west oil pipeline proposed by Canada’s populist premiers or the liquid natural gas pipeline Kinew wishes to see built to Churchill.
“Nobody’s going to be coming into First Nations ancestral traditional territories and moving any projects without the decision-making coming from Indigenous leadership,” she said in a Zoom interview.
SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said in a statement any major infrastructure proposal that could cross Anishinaabe and Dakota territories in southern Manitoba must begin with rights-holders, “not with political announcements made elsewhere.”
Daniels said First Nations cannot be treated as stakeholders after decisions have already been made.
Kinew said Monday in a statement he intends to work on the Churchill natural gas pipeline with Manitoba’s Crown-Indigenous corporation. This new entity, which is supposed to work with the federal government and Port of Churchill owner Arctic Gateway, has yet to be created.
Daniels told the Winnipeg Free Press in June the SCO can not endorse the Crown-Indigenous corporation, mainly out of fears it could be used to circumvent the duty to consult First Nations.
WATCH | Kinew tiptoes around pipeline questions:
Manitoba premier won’t weigh in on proposed oil pipeline route
‘I love Alberta,’ Wab Kinew said Tuesday, when asked what he thinks of the oil pipeline route proposed by the premiers of Alberta and Ontario a day earlier.
Meanwhile, Manitoba’s Opposition Leader chided Kinew for continuing to shy away from supporting the oil pipeline proposed by Ford, Moe and Smith.
“While those serious conversations are happening, he’s sitting at the kids table asking for $5 billion dollars of handouts, of federal transfer payments from the provinces that are doing the serious work,” Khan said.
Winnipeg environmental activist Eric Reder, however, questioned whether the announced ‘Northern Shield’ pipeline is serious at all.
“It’s so important for people to recognize that this isn’t a done deal. Some guy sitting in Alberta had this idea, like ‘let’s build one across the province,” scoffed Reder, a campaigner for the Wilderness Committee of Canada.