West Coast pipeline declared project of national interest; Central Canada gets hard lesson on Alberta separatism; and more

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney in Red Deer, north of Calgary, on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. Photo by Brent Calver/Postmedia

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It’s Thursday, October 1. Here are the top stories we’re following today.

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Carney lists West Coast oil pipeline as project of national interest, fast-tracks regulatory process

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The Major Projects Office will begin its review of the 1,200 kilometre project — now known as “Pacific Link” — in early 2027, with public hearings held by the commission of the Canada Energy Regulator. The MPO is expected to finalize a conditions document by Sept. 1, 2027.

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Former Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk speaks about the threat of Alberta separatism at an Economic Club of Canada event in Toronto on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

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Alberta anti-separatist brings hard message to central Canada: show a little gratitude

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“Please don’t pat us on the head with the promise of a pipeline, thinking that’s enough,” Thomas Lukaszuk told a Toronto business audience at the Economic Club of Canada.

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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

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‘Wake me up when there’s a steel pipe going in the dirt’: Pierre Poilievre

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In an interview with National Post’s Rob Breakenridge, the federal Conservative leader discusses his skepticism about Prime Minister Mark Carney’s newly found enthusiasm for the oil and gas industry. Poilievre also talks about what the Conservatives want to see and hear from Carney in the trade standoff with the U.S., and why he thinks Alberta separatism has flared up.

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A plane carries passengers on a flyDubai plane to Israel after the initial flight was diverted due to an alleged hijacking attempt on Sept. 30, 2026. Photo by Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

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What we know about the Flydubai suspect who allegedly ‘refused to shake hands with women’

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The suspect accused of attempting to hijack a Flydubai flight to Israel was an Omani national who talked about “killing Jews” on social media and “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” according to multiple reports.

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Handing out free drugs inside the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users office in Vancouver on Feb. 9, 2022. Photo by Arlen Redekop/PNG/Postmedia

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Jamie Sarkonak: The nonsensical Charter right to deal drugs

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B.C.’s courts have brought us the go-ahead to smoke drugs near playgrounds, the Charter right to erect a homeless encampment, and the Aboriginal right to claim title to someone else’s land. It’s a hard list to top, Sarkonak says, but this week a judge did so by inventing a Charter right to deal drugs, in a case involving the founders of an addicts’ rights group called the “Drug Users Liberation Front.”

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