Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a plan to advance a new oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific coast to diversify oil exports beyond the United States. This move is part of a broader strategy to reduce economic dependence on the US amid Donald Trump's trade war and expand Canada's presence in overseas markets, positioning the country as an energy-exporting superpower.
The government-owned Trans Mountain Corp. has been selected to build the export conduit, which will connect Alberta's oil sands to a Vancouver-area port. The pipeline will have a capacity of 1 million barrels a day. To support this and other initiatives, Prime Minister Carney announced more than C$150bn in new investments across British Columbia and Alberta.
Energy Minister Tim Hodgson stated that the plan resulted from compromising on hard choices for governments and oil companies. The strategy includes easing the concerns of First Nations and British Columbia on the Pacific coast, incorporating port expansion and protections for whales while preserving environmental protections on BC's northern coast. This approach also aims to ease separatist tensions.