Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government will uphold a tanker ban off B.C.'s North Coast, taking the wind out of the sails of any potential oil pipeline route to the region.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been among those who have favoured exporting heavy crude to B.C.'s North Coast due to the region's proximity to Asia and the existence of deep water ports.
However, opponents to such projects have held that the risks of a spill are too great to the marine environment which holds important ecological, environmental and economic values to people in the region.
Carney's reaffirmation of the ban came as part of a new multibillion-dollar Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement he announced alongside Premier David Eby in Vancouver Thursday.
The agreement includes money for mining, forestry and upgrading the Massey Tunnel and Port of Vancouver in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
WATCH | Carney says tanker ban will stay in place:
"British Columbia is the linchpin — the gateway to a more prosperous, sustainable and inclusive Canada," Carney said. "This agreement is comprehensive. It is ambitious. And it will help transform the entire Canadian economy."
Eby called the agreement a "landmark, generational" deal that is about "building the kind of province we want ... for generations to come."
The premier was back in B.C. fresh off his first trade mission to China, where he was promoting the province's energy, agriculture and tourism industry.
Impact on pipeline proposal unclear
Carney is set to travel to Calgary later Thursday to deliver remarks alongside Smith focused on "proposed new energy infrastructure to diversify Canadian exports."
Smith had been scheduled to provide an update on Alberta's proposed "million-barrel-per-day" oil pipeline route through B.C., following the July 1 deadline for her government to submit the proposal to the Major Projects Office.
It is unclear how Thursday morning's announcement will impact that proposal, but Eby said he recognizes B.C.'s "constitutional role" and that it does not have the authority to stop a pipeline.
"We will not be going to court to fight a pipeline project," he said.
"Pipelines are federal jurisdiction, that's why this agreement matters, it ensures that the northern tanker ban stays in place, and it ensures that if the pipeline goes ahead, British Columbians are fairly compensated for the environmental risks we would take."
WATCH | Eby says province won't fight pipeline in court:
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) says B.C. "must share meaningfully" in the economic benefits of a new pipeline, with mechanisms to be discussed, including an annual royalty payment and an environmental response fund.
The MOU also says B.C. recognizes Canada's interests in "optimizing" the existing southern Trans Mountain Pipeline, increasing throughput to 1.2 million barrels a day, up from 890,000 barrels.
'A good day': Coastal First Nations
The Coastal First Nations Great Bear Initiative — an alliance of First Nations on B.C.'s North Coast — has long voiced its opposition to a pipeline, saying at the time an MOU was signed between Alberta and Ottawa that the nations would use "every tool in their toolbox" to keep oil tankers out of their coastal waters.
Marilyn Slett, elected chief of the Heiltsuk Nation and the initiative's president, said the alliance will "never allow oil tankers on our coast" and that the pipeline project would "never happen."
"Today is a good day," Slett said in prepared remarks following the announcement Thursday. "The Great Bear Sea is no place for oil tankers."
"Northwest B.C. is already home to one third of the major projects announced over the past year, and many of these will significantly increase shipping traffic through the North Coast. Together, we can build durable economic partnerships, invest in the infrastructure needed to ensure safe and reliable shipping, and protect our environment — creating lasting benefits for Canadians for generations to come," she said.
She said the nations would much rather work with Ottawa on projects they feel are nation-building, forward-looking and built in partnership with Indigenous peoples.
Money for Port of Vancouver, Massey Tunnel
Part of the new agreement includes $10 billion from Ottawa to upgrade the Roberts Bank Terminal in the Port of Vancouver, which Carney said will help increase exports from Canada.
The expansion, he said, will reduce the amount of time cargo spends waiting to be shipped overseas.
He also committed $3 billion for the George Massey Tunnel replacement, upgrading the four-lane route along Highway 99 to eight lanes, a move he said will enable more exports to travel through the Lower Mainland by road.
Money is also being committed to the Port of Prince Rupert and Port of Stewart, in northern B.C., to provide "vital trade corridors for Canadian critical minerals and other resources," alongside $500 million in investment to expand the Red Chris copper mine in the province's far northwest, and money for the North Coast Transmission Line being built to send more electricity to the northwest.
Other aspects of the agreement include reaffirming the desire to develop B.C.'s liquefied natural gas industry for export overseas, the development of wind turbine manufacturing in B.C., and strengthening protection for orca populations along the B.C. coast.
With files from Catherine Garrett, Katie DeRosa and the Canadian Press
