Overview

• Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, after meeting Prime Minister Mark Carney in Ottawa, urged Ottawa to add the Alberta-led pipeline concept to the next wave of fast-tracked projects before the Grey Cup in mid-November.
• Smith called B.C. Premier David Eby’s dismissal of the proposal “un-Canadian and unconstitutional,” arguing interprovincial pipelines fall under federal authority and saying a new line could add about $20 billion a year to Canada’s economy.
• Eby labeled the plan “fictional,” citing the absence of a route, private funding and First Nations consent, and warned it could jeopardize B.C. investments and coastal ecosystems supported by the northern tanker ban.
• Project work remains at an early stage, with Alberta committing C$14 million for planning and forming a technical advisory group that includes Enbridge, Trans Mountain and South Bow, while targeting a formal application to the Major Projects Office by next spring.
• Key hurdles persist, including B.C. coastal First Nations’ stated opposition to crude shipments, the 2016 court ruling that quashed Northern Gateway over inadequate consultation, and current federal policies such as the Pacific north coast tanker ban and an oil and gas emissions cap that Alberta wants repealed or revised.