Eby cool to Smith's proposal to revive Northern Gateway
OTTAWA — British Columbia Premier David Eby isn't saying 'no' to Alberta counterpart Danielle Smith's pitch to revive the cancelled Northern Gateway pipeline project, but his evasiveness on the topic speaks volumes.
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Eby was quick to steer the discussion to 'points of agreement' when asked about Northern Gateway Thursday at the Western Premiers' Conference in Yellowknife.
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'I know Danielle's priority is to get heavy oil to tidewater. She is very unambiguous about that. My priority is to… decarbonize and drive our economy in British Columbia,' said Eby, who happened to be seated next to Smith in a conference-ending media availability.
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'If Premier Smith is able to convince the federal government to build another pipeline through British Columbia, or a private proponent, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'
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In the days leading up to the conference Smith called for the shelved pipeline project to not only be revived but also fast-tracked, saying that most direct route to ship Alberta oil to emerging markets in Asia was through B.C.'s northern coast.
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Northern Gateway, an initiative of Calgary-based pipeline company Enbridge Inc., sought to carry Alberta oil to a deep-water marine terminal in northwestern B.C., where it would then be exported via tanker.
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The project was terminated by former prime minister Justin Trudeau in late 2016, one year after he ordered a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic off B.C.'s north coast.
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The tanker ban was later entrenched in Liberal legislation.
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Eby said on Thursday that he was averse to 'opening up the pristine north coast to tanker traffic,' especially with the new Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion (TMX) not yet filled to the brim.
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'If the urgency is to get product to tidewater, I would start (with) ensuring that this publicly owned infrastructure is used to its full capacity,' said Eby.
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