Overview
- A senior federal source says Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding as early as Thursday, though the timing could shift.
- The draft MOU is expected to reference a potential route to the northwest B.C. coast and could contemplate limited exemptions to the federal tanker moratorium or use of C‑5 powers.
- B.C. Premier David Eby objects to any lift of the tanker ban and says his province was excluded from talks, while promoting a roughly 40 percent Trans Mountain capacity boost as a nearer‑term option.
- Smith says an agreement could come within weeks, agrees Trans Mountain should be maximized, yet argues a new corridor to the north coast remains a longer‑term goal.
- No concrete pipeline proposal exists, with no route or private proponent identified, and negotiations also cover broader trade‑offs such as stronger industrial carbon pricing in exchange for dropping a federal oil‑and‑gas emissions cap.