B.C. still in the dark about details of energy deal between Ottawa and Alberta

Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith during a Stampede breakfast at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in Calgary on July 4. Photo by Darren Makowichuk /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia

Article content

Premier David Eby and his government still have yet to receive the details of Ottawa and Alberta’s memorandum of understanding on a new pipeline to B.C.’s North Coast, even as Prime Minister Mark Carney gets set to jet off to Calgary on Thursday for the unveiling ceremony.

Article content

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma told reporters Tuesday that she has yet to see the exact details of the MOU and that the government is holding off on formulating a response until they receive a copy of the agreement.

Article content

Article content

Article content

“We want to figure out how to work together, and I think that’s been the stance of the premier as a Team Canada approach,” she said. “But we also need to be respected as a province in our viewpoints.”

Article content

Article content

A senior government source told Postmedia News that Ottawa has promised B.C. will be sent a copy of the deal before Thursday’s official announcement and that the province is preparing to push back pretty hard against the MOU.

Article content

Sharma didn’t rule out that the government could launch a lawsuit against a proposed pipeline project, saying: “I am staying tuned to see.”

Article content

She also indicated that suits from First Nations are a very realistic possibility, especially if they don’t feel they were properly consulted on the project.

Article content

“We have constitutional obligations, as everybody knows, related to First Nations in this country that we have to abide by,” said Sharma. “And we also have the court system that can be used by First Nations to bring their concerns when decisions are made by any level of government in terms of judicial reviews or challenges to those decisions, and that can be something that can really raise concerns on projects and cause delays and cause a lot of uncertainty related to that.”

Article content

Article content

Meanwhile in Ottawa, Carney, federal Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson and federal government House Leader Steven MacKinnon faced repeated questions from Pierre Poilievre, leader of the federal Conservatives and official Opposition, about the pending deal during Parliament Hill’s question period.

Article content

Article content

Poilievre called it a “meaningless memorandum” and “public relations ploy” and pressed the federal government to provide a date for when construction on the new pipeline will get underway.

Article content

Carney responded that B.C. and local First Nations have to agree with any potential project and indicated that the MOU doesn’t, by itself, mean that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will get her long-dreamed-of energy project.

Article content

“The memorandum of understanding that we’re negotiating with Alberta creates necessary conditions, but not sufficient conditions, because we believe in co-operative federalism,” said the PM. “We believe the government of British Columbia has to agree. We believe that First Nations right-holders in this country have to agree.”