{"id":293240,"date":"2025-11-19T12:33:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/293240\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T12:33:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:33:09","slug":"ottawa-alberta-close-to-deal-that-includes-oil-pipeline-to-b-c-coast-sources-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/293240\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa, Alberta close to deal that includes oil pipeline to B.C. coast, sources say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Premier Danielle Smith said she and Prime Minister Mark Carney are keen to proceed with what she called a new vision for Alberta and the federal government.Adrian Wyld\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Ottawa and Alberta appear close to striking an energy accord long sought by Premier Danielle Smith<\/a> to boost her province\u2019s oil and natural gas sector, with Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia playing a key role in the negotiations, two sources say.<\/p>\n

Two federal insiders said the broad outlines of the agreement, which would take the form of a memorandum of understanding, involve an oil pipeline running from Alberta to the northwest coast of British Columbia.<\/p>\n

On the table to support it would be a limited 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. <\/p>\n

Players in the federal and Alberta governments are expressing optimism that a deal is within reach and could be announced in time for next weekend\u2019s United Conservative Party of Alberta convention.<\/p>\n

Alberta to draw up proposal for new oil pipeline to B.C. coast by May<\/a><\/p>\n

The negotiations reflect a turnaround in relations between Alberta and Ottawa, which had soured under the Trudeau government\u2019s approach to energy and environmental policies. Since becoming Prime Minister, Mark Carney<\/a> has taken a more collaborative approach, vowing to turn Canada into an energy superpower while still taking action on climate change. <\/p>\n

Energy projects have featured prominently in the list of infrastructure priorities that have been referred to the Major Projects Office<\/a>, a central plank of Mr. Carney\u2019s strategy for asserting Canadian sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Ms. Smith told reporters Monday she and Mr. Carney are very keen to proceed with what she called a new vision for her province and the federal government, and suggested it rested on him being able to win over naysayers within his own caucus. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt may well be that there are some members of his caucus who are not fully on board with that new vision, but I will know in the matter of days whether or not they\u2019re influential enough to change the direction that I think the Prime Minister and I want to go,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Ms. Smith had originally said she thought there would be a deal by the Grey Cup, which was on Sunday. <\/p>\n

Mr. Carney is now headed to the United Arab Emirates<\/a>, and then to South Africa for the G20 summit. He is slated to return on Nov. 24. The UCP convention begins on Nov. 28. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia is playing a key role in talks between Alberta and Ottawa, the sources said.Jenna Muirhead\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The sources said Mr. Sabia, the former CEO of Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec, BCE Inc. and Quebec\u2019s pension fund, got involved in the Alberta negotiations after Canada-U.S. tariff talks broke down over an Ontario TV advertisement<\/a> that angered President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources, who were not authorized to discuss the confidential negotiations.<\/p>\n

Mr. Sabia and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson are spearheading the discussions. But Mr. Carney and Ms. Smith have also been in regular contact, the sources said. <\/p>\n

The sources said a northwest B.C. pipeline would require a private sector proponent, buy-in from coastal Indigenous communities and environmental approvals. It\u2019s unclear whether the MOU would require the approval of B.C.\u2019s NDP government, which is publicly opposed. <\/p>\n

The MOU could include revival of the cancelled Keystone pipeline to the United States, but that remains part of the stalled trade talks with Washington, the sources said.<\/p>\n

B.C. asks Ottawa to retain north coast tanker ban, blocking Alberta\u2019s pipeline ambitions<\/a><\/p>\n

The two sources cautioned that talks are fluid and nothing has been written in stone. But the sources said Ottawa may be willing to grant some waivers, such as lifting the tanker ban for the specific area where the pipeline would emerge on the B.C. coast. <\/p>\n

B.C. Premier David Eby is adamantly opposed to lifting the ban. He told the B.C. NDP convention on the weekend that doing so would undermine all of the support First Nations and other coastal communities in B.C. have for the various resource projects already under way \u2212 some of which were referred to the federal Major Projects Office last week. <\/p>\n

The Prime Minister has also referred the Pathways Alliance carbon-capture initiative to Ottawa\u2019s Major Projects Office and the plan is now part of the talks for the MOU, the sources said. <\/p>\n

It is a 400-kilometre-long pipeline that would transport carbon trapped at oil-sands facilities to an underground hub near Cold Lake, Alta., with the aim of reducing emissions by 22 megatonnes a year.<\/p>\n

The Trudeau government put in place an investment tax credit that would cover up to 50 per cent of the project\u2019s capital costs, and Alberta\u2019s government is offering an additional 12-per-cent capital-cost subsidy. However, Pathways members have expressed reluctance to proceed because of revenue uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s pipeline pitch forces a thorny debate back into full view<\/a><\/p>\n

The recent federal budget, however, promised to improve the industrial carbon pricing system, which could provide more certainty to the sector and increase its willingness to cover the costs.<\/p>\n

Mr. Carney managed to pass his government\u2019s maiden budget<\/a> on Monday thanks in part to support from Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, after he promised to respect previous commitments to emissions reductions targets. <\/p>\n

Mr. Carney was asked Tuesday how he could square that promise with a proposed new pipeline for Alberta.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re part of an energy transition, we\u2019re going to help to lead it,\u201d he told reporters. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat means Alberta, that means Quebec, that means Ontario, that means all of Canada, means all forms of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a report from Emma Graney<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Premier Danielle Smith said she and Prime Minister Mark Carney are keen to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,714],"class_list":{"0":"post-293240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}