Photo Credit: Greg Halinda/The Canadian Press via Canada’s National Observer
On Oct. 1, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that the West Coast Oil Pipeline project has been designated a project of national interest under the Building Canada Act.
From now on, the pipeline is to be called Pacific Link. Permission to begin the design and construction of the pipeline may be obtained as early as Sept. 1, 2027.
Pacific Link is intended to be operational by 2032. According to The Globe and Mail, the cost is estimated to be between $35.2 and $43.7 billion. The proposed pipeline will be approximately 1,250 kilometres long and have the capacity to ship one million barrels of crude oil per day.
The pipeline will run from Bruderheim, Alberta to a deep-water port near Delta, BC, where the oil will reach a delivery tanks terminal, and then it will be transported to an offshore marine loading facility. From there, the crude oil will be shipped overseas, primarily to Asia.
Alberta has one of the world’s largest and most secure energy reserves, according to the provincial government’s website, but due to an inability to ship crude oil overseas from tide water, 90 per cent of that oil is sold to the US, and often at discounted rates.
Carney says this pipeline, which would allow Canada to ship oil from a deep-water port to global markets, will double its non-US exports over the next decade, making it more independent, and building Canada’s reputation as a global energy powerhouse.
Additionally, according to the Government of Alberta, Pacific Link could increase Gross Domestic Product by an estimated $30 billion annually, and it could attract $200 billion in direct investments into Canada. Pacific Link will also create up to 140,000 temporary jobs at the peak of construction, and 50,000 permanent positions once the pipeline is operating.
According to The Globe and Mail, Carney stated that major infrastructure builds have previously been “weighed down by well-intentioned but arduous and often duplicative regulatory processes.” As such, his government is aiming to speed up the approval process for many major builds.
The pipeline will be owned by the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission and the Trans Mountain Corporation, a Federal Crown Corporation. Each will hold a 45 per cent stake. Pembina Pipeline will have a 10 percent stake, and their stake in the project may double when the pipeline begins operating.
Carney is emphasizing his intentions to keep Indigenous rights in mind, as the proposed route for the pipeline cuts through many First Nations reserves.
Indigenous communities have been offered a minimum of 10 per cent ownership in the project, which would be funded through loan guarantee programs. They will also be involved in the planning of the pipeline, specifically in environmental safety.
However, many Indigenous stakeholders worry that because Pacific Link is a project of national interest, the consultation process with Indigenous leaders will be rushed.
Some leaders, such as Chief Raymond Powder of Fort McKay First Nation, are excited for the financial opportunity presented by the pipeline, but wish that they could pause to consider what is best for their land and their people.
“I would just like to have a little bit of extra time for due-diligence,” Powder said to CBC News. His primary concern is the pollution that the pipeline could create, and he worries that plans to complete consultations on the pipeline before Sept. 1, 2027 may keep these issues from being fully addressed.
Other Indigenous leaders oppose the project altogether. Chief Dalton Silver of Sumas First Nation, located near Abbotsford, says that he is worried about what oil spills have done to his territory’s land and drinking water, and thinks that Pacific Link, if built, will make the problem worse.
According to Silver, people in his community have become accustomed to oil spills, with crude oil having been stored in and transported to and from his First Nation’s traditional territory for decades. Silver says that he was opposed to the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, but that the expansion proceeded anyway.
Now, he wishes to prevent the construction of Pacific Link, which is planned to follow a path that is similar to the Trans Mountain Expansion Project’s routing.
Pacific Link is a joint project between the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta, which recently introduced a question on a province-wide referendum regarding whether Alberta should take steps to exit Canada. However, in the referendum, voters rejected the proposal to consider separating from Canada.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Mark Carney hopes that Pacific Link will help heal Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa.