The Liberals on Tuesday defeated a motion by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre that he had said was seeking to affirm their support for a new pipeline to the West Coast, which the government insisted does not mean it doesn’t back such a project.
The motion used partial language from the memorandum of understanding signed between Ottawa and Alberta last month that sets the stage for a bitumen pipeline that will increase oil exports to Asia from a yet-unnamed deep-water port in B.C.
It specifically cited a federal commitment in the memorandum to “enable” a new pipeline, “including if necessary through an appropriate adjustment” of the northern British Columbia oil tanker ban — language that has been opposed by Coastal First Nations and the B.C. government.
The motion called for “while respecting the duty to consult Indigenous Peoples.”
Liberals said Tuesday they will vote against the motion, accusing Poilievre of seeking division and “playing games.”
“Canadians see the motion before us today for what it is: it’s a cynical ploy to divide us, it’s a cheap political stunt,” Energy Minister Tim Hodgson told reporters before the vote.
The motion is not legislation and would not automatically authorize any specific project.
Conservatives on Tuesday amended the motion “in the spirit of collaboration” to add more language from the MOU on “meaningful” Indigenous consultation and “engaging with British Columbia immediately in a trilateral discussion on the pipeline project.” It also adds points on pursuing carbon capture and storage.
The amendment was also defeated Tuesday evening.
Poilievre mentioned those points while challenging Prime Minister Mark Carney to vote for the motion in question period Tuesday, without acknowledging the motion had been updated.
“I took the wording for the motion right out of his deal, and if he votes against the motion, he’s voting against the pipeline to the Pacific, he’s voting against consultation with the First Nations people and the British Columbia government, and he’s even voting against his own beloved carbon capture and storage,” he said.
Carney said the Conservatives should put forward the entire memorandum as a motion for a vote, which the Liberals would support.
“The memorandum of understanding is not something that you can pick and choose from,” he said in French.
“You have to eat the entire meal, not just the appetizer.”
The NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May joined the Liberals in voting against the Conservative motion and amendment, saying they oppose a new pipeline in general.
A recorded vote was held for the amendment, and all parties applied the same results to the original motion.
Liberals call motion 'immature' and 'an insult'
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, who is Cree, called the motion “an immature waste of parliamentary time” and “an insult toward Indigenous peoples” while speaking to reporters alongside Hodgson and other ministers earlier Tuesday.
She noted the MOU commits both Ottawa and Alberta to consult with and seek consent from B.C. and First Nations on a future pipeline, something she said will ensure “respect” and “equity” among all communities and stakeholders impacted by such a project.
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Ministers also highlighted the memorandum’s commitments on pursing carbon capture and renewable energy projects as well as updates to the industrial carbon price, which the Conservative motion does not mention.
“This motion doesn’t reflect the full agreement … and this motion refuses to talk about climate change and any kind of commitment to get to net-zero (emissions),” Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin said.
“As a party, we are united in wanting to make sure that we continue to build Canada, that we build it well, that we take into account climate change in the work that we do, and that we respect Indigenous rightsholders. Our party is united on that.”
In a separate press conference, Alberta MP Eleanor Olszewski, the federal minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, insisted she was not sending mixed messages by voting against the Conservative motion while voicing support for a pipeline.
“I don’t think it sends a mixed message at all,” she said. “My constituents understand that the prime minister and the premier of Alberta has already signed a memorandum of understanding … and they also understand that this is a little bit of a stunt pulled by the Conservatives at Christmas time. It’s really an unnecessary and redundant motion.”
The oil tanker ban on the northern B.C. coast, which was first promised by Trudeau in 2015, has been blamed for killing the Northern Gateway and Eagle Spirit pipeline projects from the Alberta oilsands to northwestern B.C.
Federal Conservatives and successive Alberta governments have called on the 2019 federal law to be repealed, arguing it constrains the oil and gas industry.
The B.C. government and Coastal First Nations signed a proclamation last month committing to uphold the tanker ban, and the Assembly of First Nations voted unanimously at last week’s annual meeting to reject any changes to the law.
“The province (of B.C.) has worked hard to build relationships with Nations in British Columbia, and I think Canada needs to understand and respect that,” Haida Nation president and Coastal First Nations vice-president Gaagwiis Jason Alsop told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.
Alsop, who travelled to Ottawa with other Coastal First Nations leaders to witness Tuesday’s House of Commons vote, said the “fragile balance” between promoting economic activity for First Nations and respecting those communities’ sovereignty must “continue to be nurtured.”
“Having a project jammed through that affects our title and rights and harms our territory damages those relationships that are so important to all of us,” he said.
Government remains unified, House leader says
Calgary MP Corey Hogan, the parliamentary secretary to Hodgson, acknowledged voting “no” could send the wrong message that Liberals were not “serious” about a pipeline.
Yet he also called his “no” vote “a very easy decision” and criticized Poilievre’s “game-playing” for putting a future pipeline in jeopardy.
“If he was thinking about this in terms of how do we actually get a pipeline built, he would never have brought forward this motion,” he said.
“There’s a risk in voting yes, there’s a risk in voting no. This motion was designed to create risk, because this motion is designed not to get a pipeline built but instead to try and poke at people.”
Hodgson, when asked Tuesday if voting “no” will create uncertainty for potential pipeline proponents, said the MOU as a whole sends the right message to industry.
Gull-Masty added the MOU shows clarity and “maturity” by clearly stating the intent to consult and collaborate with all affected parties before a project is approved.
“Today’s motion that’s being put on the floor is not a ‘no’ vote for the MOU. It’s a ‘no’ vote against the Conservatives playing games and creating optics and wasting parliamentary time when they should be voting on things that are way more important,” she said.
Potential unrest among the Liberals was thrust into the spotlight hours after the Alberta-Ottawa memorandum was signed, when former environment minister Steven Guilbeault resigned as Canadian identity and culture minister.
Guilbeault released an open letter Tuesday that sharply criticized the MOU, calling it a “significant step backward in the fight against climate change” and a deal that risks Canada’s “environmental integrity.”
“We have a lot of opinions and views in our caucus, Mr. Guilbeault’s is one,” Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said Tuesday. “We’ll obviously continue to have a caucus and a party that contains many different points of view, but the government’s position on this matter is very clear.”
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet told reporters in Ottawa there was “no way on Earth that we would vote for this motion, which was specifically designed in order to insert a wedge within the Liberal caucus.”
“It might be quite efficient” in doing so, he said.
“I believe in all friendship — and maybe they will not receive it that way — that Alberta should start a transition toward a new economy” and away from oil and gas, he added.
—with files from Global’s Mackenzie Gray
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