B.C. premier slams Conservatives over ‘secret’ pipeline talks

The B.C. Legislature heard a lot of shushing during Thursday’s Question Period as Premier David Eby tried to respond to a Conservative MLA about LNG, pipelines, and a ban on oil tankers in the province’s north.

The debate came after the official Opposition leader, Conservative John Rustad, confirmed his party had been speaking with Alberta’s premier about her plans to build a pipeline that would run through B.C.’s northern coast.

Yesterday, Rustad said, “of course,” he had been conversing with Danielle Smith about the line, and he was also speaking with “all kinds of people” in Saskatchewan about the proposal.

But his conversations didn’t include David Eby.

“These members on the other side — for ideological reasons only, because there is no project. There is no proponent, there is no route — working secretly with the province of Alberta to conspire against our economy for a non-existent project,” said Eby.

“They are not in favour of our province succeeding economically. They’re not in favour of tens of thousands of jobs, because when we land these projects… it will show the success of our province. The success of British Columbians. The success of Canadians and they will be sitting over there for a very long time.”

Eby also criticized the Conservatives for proposing to eliminate an oil tanker ban in B.C., for what he said is a failure to include First Nations in discussions.

“You have heard the Opposition… work with the president of the United States, he’s just making requests that a friendly neighbour would. Well, [the Conservatives] have been consistently wrong, and they are wrong here again. The ban on oil tankers on the north coast supports a $1.7 billion economy. That is thousands of jobs. And the ban enables major projects to advance that will ensure Canadian resources get to global markets. Without the ban, that social support, or at least tolerance from coastal First Nations, evaporates.”

Earlier this week, the Globe and Mail reported that the federal and Alberta governments were close to signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a new pipeline, which would allow some tanker traffic on the northern B.C. coast.

While Rustad says he has not been involved in the MOU, he does support Alberta’s plans to get its oil to markets other than the U.S., and get full value for it, benefiting not only Alberta but the rest of the country.

In a statement issued Thursday, Eby also said the “unfunded proposal of a heavy oil pipeline” would put real jobs and prosperity at risk, adding the northern coast is “an economic driver that will provide a lifeline” for Canada.

Rustad doesn’t see it that way. He claims Eby is exaggerating and “fearmongering” about the potential effects of the pipeline, which he says is 100 per cent within federal jurisdiction.

B.C.’s jobs minister previously called for Ottawa to increase the capacity of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, but there’s no indication the feds will do that.

—With files from The Canadian Press