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What we still don't know about Alberta's West Coast pipeline plan | Hanomansing Tonight

Alberta is expected to announce new details about its proposed West Coast oil pipeline later this week. Former Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission CEO Richard Masson discusses what's still unclear, including the route and private backing.

A pipeline taking Alberta energy to the B.C. Coast isn't the only new(ish) pipeline in the works.

Canadian company South Bow and U.S. Company Bridger Pipeline are working on a proposal for something called the Prairie Connector, which would use and revive portions of the repeatedly-killed Keystone XL pipeline.

But that pipeline goes south, to the United States. It could send more than half a million additional barrels per day from Alberta headed to Wyoming. A significant majority of Alberta's energy output already goes to the U.S.

"Canadian producers always want to grow, right?" he added.

Canadian politicians from many parties have noted they'd like to see increased exports to non-American markets to diversify Canada's economy away from reliance on the United States.

The expected pipeline announcement heading west is regarded by many in the industry I've spoken to as one of the only ways to facilitate that long-term.

To paraphrase Saturday Night Live: if exporting more energy to Europe and Asia is a fever, the only prescription is more pipeline.

The other major claim Poilievre made today is that there is "no environmental argument against a pipeline to northern B.C. Ports."

Opponents to projects like the one Alberta is discussing with Ottawa have said the risks of a spill are too great to the marine environment of the North Coast, which holds great ecological, environmental and economic value to people in the region.

While we’re still shy on details about any proposed pipeline to B.C.'s North Coast, we can get an indication of what experts have said in the past. 

Research out of Simon Fraser University that examined the cancelled Northern Gateway pipeline project showed there was a 64 per cent chance of a major oil tanker spill of 10,000 barrels or more, even with improved safety standards, over the first 30 years of operation. 

During his news conference, Poilievre said polls show the "vast majority of British Columbians support pipelines from Alberta to the Pacific."

Public opinion polling data gathered by Angus Reid in late 2025 found that among B.C. Residents, support outweighs opposition, with 53 per cent supportive of a pipeline to the province’s North Coast, 37 per cent opposed and 10 per cent unsure. 

There’s also a caveat in the poll worth mentioning. It showed B.C. Is also the province with the highest support for leaving the North Coast tanker ban in place, with 38 per cent in favour of upholding the ban. 

Breaking down the polling by geography shows opposition to a pipeline increases for residents on Vancouver Island and the North Coast, at 44 per cent — although another 48 per cent support the idea.

When asked what he thinks of the agreement between the feds and the B.C. Government to keep the North Coast oil tanker ban in place, Poilievre had a straightforward opinion: "I think the North Coast ban is ridiculous."

"American tankers travel through those same Pacific waters all the time, from Alaska to the U.S. West Coast. 

"So why does Mark Carney believe … carrying American oil from Alaska to California is safe, but it's not safe for us to send Canadian oil over to Asia through the same passage?"

He said it "takes about 36 hours less time to get to Asia from northern B.C. As it does from southern B.C." due to geography and the curvature of the earth — reasons he believes "the best place to put a pipeline is to Prince Rupert or Kitimat."

"We don't want a pipeline that will simply lead tankers to take the oil south down to the California west coast. We're trying to diversify here. So … the best way to diversify is by permitting a pipeline from Alberta, to Prince Rupert or Kitimat, to ship a million barrels a day over to Asia."

He ended by stating his hope that the prime minister will signal his willingness to "grant such a permit today."

B.C. North Coast oil tanker ban is 'ridiculous,' Poilievre says

As the Liberal government agreed to uphold the oil tanker ban on B.C.'s North Coast, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the moratorium 'ridiculous,' saying that 'the best way to diversity is by permitting a pipeline' to Prince Rupert or Kitimat, B.C.

I was at the news conference in Camrose, Alta., with Pollievre, who said he'd be watching today's pipeline announcements with interest.

He congratulated Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her support for oil and gas in the province, and critiqued Carney's position on the energy sector.

Pollievre’s solution? Simply "get the feds out of the way."

That involves repealing the industrial carbon tax; getting rid of Bill C-69, which overhauled Canada's environmental assessment process; repealing the tanker ban off B.C.'s North Coast; and approving Smith’s pipeline proposal, and getting out of the way to allow it to move forward.

"Build, don’t block pipelines," Poilievre said.

The Conservative leader also said he doesn't think the carbon-capture Pathways Project should be a condition for a pipeline to the West Coast.

The proposed $16.5-billion megaproject, spearheaded by Canada’s largest oilsands producers, aims to capture industrial emissions in northern Alberta and permanently store them deep underground to achieve net-zero targets.

It would be the world's largest carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) project, capable of capturing up to 16 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2045.

"I'll have more to say when I see what [the feds] propose, but I will make one thing very clear: for the federal government to force Alberta to spend billions of dollars on this project as a condition of building a highly productive and profitable pipeline is unfair."

One of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's key promises during the 2025 federal election campaign was to lift the tanker ban, arguing it was an issue of national security in the face of economic threats from the U.S.

In 2025, a Conservative MP, Ellis Ross, was elected in Skeena-Bulkley Valley for the first time in the history of the riding, which spans the North Coast, Haida Gwaii and northwest inland B.C. 

That, along with the boon of other major projects proposed for the northwest, could signal a changing tide. 

There are five marquee projects being platformed by the province and Ottawa in the region, including Ksi Lisims LNG, LNG Canada Phase 2, Prince Rupert Gas Transmission, the Red Chris Mine expansion and the North Coast Transmission Line. 

"Most Canadians are very much in favour of us getting more value out of our resources and being able to ship them elsewhere," he said ahead of today;s announcement. 

"There's obviously a lot of consultation that has to go on for whatever route they choose, but if it looks like something is starting to move, I'm very much in favour of seeing that." 

Kitimat is highly receptive to exploring future opportunities, he added. 

I'm a reporter based in Terrace, though I'm from Haida Gwaii. 

Like Andrew, I remember the biggest news story of my high school and early university years was the opposition to Northern Gateway. 

Everywhere you looked there was someone with a "No Pipeline, No Tankers, No Problem" T-shirt, and flyers and bumper stickers were available at local businesses. There was also a billboard at the ballpark in Daajing Giids, Haida Gwaii, saying "Haida Gwaii vs Enbridge." 

I've been speaking to locals from all over the region on their thoughts about the pipeline routes proposed by Alberta that would go through northern B.C.

Former Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach — a prominent local opponent of Northern Gateway, primarily in his role as mayor of Smithers from 2011 to 2019 — says opposition to oil tankers on the North Coast goes back almost 50 years. 

He said it began in 1978 with the West Coast Oil Ports Inquiry — a federal commission to evaluate the environmental, social and navigational impacts of a proposed crude oil terminal in Kitimat — and was revived again in 2012 with the Enbridge Joint Review Panel that assessed the potential impacts of Northern Gateway. 

The results of that opposition have been reflected in federal policy and legislation like the oil tanker ban, he added. 

"It seems like the same lesson has to be learned over and over," Bachrach told me. 

Northern Gateway pipeline approved

From the archives: Northern Gateway pipeline approved in 2014

For much of my early career in journalism, the biggest story in northern B.C. Was the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project. 

The Conservative government of the day approved the project in 2014 with 209 conditions, but it was subject to mass protests. The video above shows a spontaneous rally of more than 400 people gathering in Vancouver after approval was given. Similar protests were held across the province, and even here in Prince George — a 630-kilometre drive from the proposed terminus in Kitimat, B.C. — anti-Northern Gateway signs were a common sight on lawns and bumper stickers.

As unpopular as Northern Gateway was, it was ultimately the courts that put a stop to its construction. 

In what was described as its longest hearing in modern history, the Federal Court of Appeal consolidated multiple legal challenges to the pipeline into one "mega-hearing" that ultimately resulted in the project's approval being overturned.

The court ruled Ottawa had failed to properly consult with First Nations affected by the pipeline's construction, including the Gitxaala, Haisla and Heiltsuk, many of whom remain unequivocal in their opposition to any proposed pipeline today — and prepared to take legal action once more.

What politicians get wrong about the B.C. Oil tanker ban

So what even is the oil tanker ban along B.C.'s North Coast?

Our colleagues put together the above explainer outlining what the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act actually means, and doesn't mean, for resource exports through B.C.'s coastal waters.

Carney waiting for Alberta's pipeline proposal

Prime Minister Mark Carney says while it's up to Alberta to submit a proposal for an oil pipeline to the B.C. Coast 'on or around July 1,' the federal process to decide whether or not to refer a plan to the Major Projects Office would take until October.

Two days ago, Carney declined to say whether he had seen a proposal from Alberta but said he was "very up to speed" on the potential pitch. He reiterated that Ottawa's support for a West Coast pipeline is linked to building the Pathways carbon capture and storage project, to offset some of the emissions from increased oil production. 

A video posted to Carney's YouTube channel on Tuesday discussed an energy crisis the country faces, and noted the federal government is developing options for an oil pipeline to the West Coast.

Heather Exner-Pirot, director of natural resources, energy and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said she believes the video is an indication Ottawa is in favour of moving the project forward and delivering on a pipeline, will designate it a nation-building project, and assist with financing in some form.

"Carney spoke in his video about his desire to have a united, strong country, to do things that bring us together," Exner-Pirot said on Tuesday.

"This, for me, is all setting the stage for something that both Alberta and B.C. And Ottawa are all going to get behind on Thursday."

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