Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have signed a memorandum of understanding to advance a pipeline project linking Alberta’s oil reserves to the Pacific Coast, a move that could lead to easing a longstanding tanker ban off British Columbia.
Carney’s backing for the plan triggered turmoil within his government and prompted the resignation of cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault, a former environment minister and lifelong environmental advocate who had been serving as culture minister. He said he could not support a project that might cross the Great Bear Rainforest and increase the risk of coastal tanker spills, though he will continue as a Liberal MP.
Carney said he respected Guilbeault’s decision to remain in Parliament, adding that Canada must diversify its export markets as U.S. tariffs continue to unsettle investors. He has set a target to double non-U.S. exports within a decade.
Alberta’s premier said the initiative could open access to more than one million barrels of oil per day for Asian markets, reducing Canada’s reliance on the United States. Carney echoed that view, saying the country’s once-beneficial economic interdependence with the U.S. has become a vulnerability, with more than 95 percent of Canadian energy exports currently going south.
He said the agreement is only the start of a process and stressed the need for a private-sector partner to make the pipeline viable. The framework also calls for engaging British Columbia, where coastal First Nations and environmental groups have long opposed oil tankers.
Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved one major Alberta-to-B.C. pipeline in 2016, but the federal government had to build it amid legal challenges and resistance. Trudeau rejected a separate proposal, the Northern Gateway project, which would have carried over half a million barrels a day through the Great Bear Rainforest.
British Columbia Premier David Eby criticized the new pipeline push, saying lifting the tanker ban would undermine existing coastal projects and agreements with First Nations. He noted that no company is currently backing the proposal, calling it a “distraction.”
Coastal First Nations President Marilyn Slett said the communities have “zero interest” in co-owning or benefiting from a project that threatens their territory and way of life.
The agreement links the pipeline initiative with a proposed carbon capture project, and federal and provincial officials say both must proceed together. Ottawa and Alberta will work with companies to identify new emissions-reduction projects by April 1, with rollout beginning in 2027.