New Pipeline to B.C. Coast May Be 50% Indigenous Owned, Smith Says

Smith speculated the pipeline might generate $2 billion a year in revenue

By Robert Tuttle

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says a proposed new oil pipeline to the northern British Columbia coast would be as much as 50 per cent owned by Indigenous groups.

Her government plans to release the technical work by July 1 on a potential pipeline with a capacity of 1 million barrels a day running from Alberta to the coast, Smith said at an event in Calgary. Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated support for the project in a memorandum of understanding he signed with Smith last Thursday.

Smith speculated the pipeline might cost $20 billion and generate $2 billion a year in revenue. “Can you imagine the impact that would have on those communities in British and in Alberta? It’s extraordinary.”

Ownership of oil and gas projects has been embraced by some Indigenous communities in Canada, but others, including coastal nations in northern B.C., have mostly rejected the idea of a new oil pipeline as too risky for the environment. The governments of Canada and Alberta operate programs that offer financial assistance, such as loan guarantees, to First Nations interested in ownership of energy infrastructure.

The planned pipeline has been criticized by British Columbia Premier David Eby, who said that relaxing a ban on oil tankers off the northern B.C. coast would be a “grave mistake,” according to CTV News.

Bloomberg.com

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