Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday his meeting with B.C. Premier David Eby would include the first of his planned consultations with provinces and territories on lowering the federal carbon pricing standard in line with Alberta.
Carney was in Vancouver to meet with Eby and B.C. business leaders and show his commitment to working collaboratively with the province, after Eby cried foul over the Alberta energy agreement that also sets a pathway for a new oil pipeline to the West Coast.
Although carbon pricing was not raised by either leader in their public remarks ahead of their meeting, both underscored their commitment to working together on B.C.’s economic and environmental priorities in further negotiations.
“We’re building on some momentum that’s built up,” Carney said.
“It’s a discussion that very much respects the priorities of British Columbia, the values of British Columbia — values which of course we share, and I think the country shares. So it’s an enormous opportunity.”
While Eby thanked Carney for supporting major projects in B.C., he said those values must include environmental concerns that have been raised by the prospect of a new pipeline.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the prime minister is a friend to British Columbia, and an important part of friendship is telling each other the truth,” Eby said.
“And part of the truth for British Columbia is that the development work that we’re doing of developing our economy has to go hand in hand with environmental protection for the next generation, including the North Coast tanker ban. That is crucially important for British Columbians.”
The premier has complained that B.C. wasn’t involved in the talks leading up to the Alberta agreement, which the opposition BC Conservatives have used to attack Eby and his government.
Carney vows future carbon pricing, pipeline talks
Earlier Wednesday, Carney told B.C. business leaders at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade that he was committed to ensuring the province and all other parts of the country are brought to the table not just on carbon pricing, but the rest of his government’s energy and infrastructure strategies — including a future pipeline.
“In the weeks ahead, we will engage with British Columbia — in fact, in the hours ahead, I’m going to see the premier in a moment — and all the provinces and territories on changes to the federal carbon pricing benchmark to align with these new commitments,” Carney said.
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“And we’ll do it fast, so we have one consistent and predictable approach.”
Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed an agreement on Friday to bring Alberta’s effective carbon price — the market price for credits — to $130 per tonne by 2040, while the headline price in Alberta would also reach $100 per tonne by 2027, before rising to $130 per tonne by 2035.
That’s far below the current federally mandated carbon pricing level of $170 per tonne by 2030, something Eby had said would put Alberta at an unfair advantage.
Yet the implementation agreement said Canada would “ensure the updated federal carbon pricing benchmark is consistent with this agreement,” which Carney said would be achieved through consultations.
The Alberta agreement also sets a pathway for a yet-to-be-approved new oil pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast, which Eby and several B.C. First Nations have opposed — particularly if it’s routed to northern B.C.
Eby said Wednesday he wants to see “a fair share for British Columbia of federal investment that the prime minister is committed to for this country, and a fair share of federal enthusiasm for the projects that we’re bringing forward” out of his meeting with Carney.
Carney noted that one-third of the more than 20 projects referred to the new federal Major Projects Office for expedited approvals so far are based in B.C., with both leaders hinting at more to come.
The prime minister stressed to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade that the new pipeline will only be approved if British Columbians “share substantial economic and financial benefits” and First Nations are fully consulted, which includes “ensuring Indigenous economic benefits, partnerships and opportunities for co-ownership.”
Port of Vancouver expansion necessary as trade expands, Carney says
That same cooperative approach will also be applied to other major projects in B.C., Carney added, including expanding capacity at the Port of Vancouver, which will be necessary as Canada seeks to double its non-U.S. exports and expand trade with Asia.
“We’re going to run out of capacity at the Port of Vancouver over the course of the next — well, less than the next decade,” he said during a fireside chat with Greater Vancouver Board of Trade CEO Bridgitte Anderson.
“We would like to run out of capacity sooner than that, because we would like to be growing our exports faster than that. Which means we need to act now.”
Carney noted that the war in the Middle East had disrupted energy supplies around the world, with some countries “increasingly in the next few weeks” set to face questions of availability.
While he said that gives Canada an opportunity to increase its energy exports from B.C. and beyond, he said port expansion and new energy projects will be pursued in a collaborative way between governments, First Nations and industry stakeholders.
“The worst thing to do is to do this piecemeal and not get the overall benefits: not have a better waterfront here, not have greater productivity, not have the South resident killer whales protected, not have First Nation partnership,” he said.
“We can do all that if we do it all together with a sense of urgency that the moment demands. Because if we don’t do this, to be clear, it is going to be very hard for us to become materially more independent, more resilient, as a country.”
David Eby and his insane UNDRIP legislation is what has put BC at a disadvantage. No rational company is going to invest money in a province where it is now a 100% guarantee that all First Nations challenges to property ownership will be upheld by the courts. This same legislation will continue to impact private property owners as well, who now face the very real possibility that the land on which their homes sit is not legally theirs and subject to forfeit without compensation. In all cases the courts are simply following the law as directed by Mr. Eby and his NDP Government, which has essentially codified that the majority of BC residents are illegally squatting on land that is not theirs.
If BC hates Alberta pipelines so much, Alberta should shut down the TMX pipeline to the Burnaby refinery for a few months. Where would BC get gasoline, diesel and jet fuel?
Remove the carbon pricing, build the pipeline and extract Canadian oil and gas, for Canadians. We the people are sick and tired of being taxed to death while money is handed out to foreign countries and our resources are given away.