Carney declares Pacific Link oil pipeline a project of national interest
Mark Carney has named the proposed West Coast oil pipeline Pacific Link and fast-tracked it as a project of national interest, promising a streamlined review, C$20bn a year in GDP and an economy less dependent on the United States.
Canada will fast track the approval process for a new crude oil export pipeline to its west coast, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Thursday in Fort McMurray, Alberta, declaring the project — officially named Pacific Link — a project of national interest. Reuters Prime Minister’s Office
The designation under the Building Canada Act, the first granted under the legislation, moves Pacific Link into a single federal regulatory review led by the Major Projects Office, which aims to finalise conditions by September 1, 2027. Carney said the pipeline was part of “our mission to transform our economy, to double our non-US exports over the next decade… and to unlock our full potential as a global energy superpower”. Reuters Canadian Press
The roughly 1,250-kilometre, one-million-barrel-a-day pipeline would run from Bruderheim, Alberta, to Delta, British Columbia, at an estimated cost of C$35.2 to C$43.7 billion. It would be built by the federal Crown corporation Trans Mountain Corp with Pembina Pipeline Corp as private investor; Canada and Alberta would each hold 45 per cent, and Indigenous communities would be offered at least 10 per cent ownership. Ottawa says the project would create 140,000 jobs and generate over C$20 billion a year in GDP and C$100 billion in government revenue by 2060. Reuters Canadian Press
The announcement, made alongside Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, is central to Carney’s bid to diversify the economy away from the United States and lessen the effect of US tariffs. Canada currently sends more than 90 per cent of its crude oil exports to the US, and its only existing east-west pipeline, Trans Mountain, is running at capacity. Reuters
The move is also meant to mend relations with oil-rich Alberta ahead of an October 19 public vote on whether to hold a referendum on leaving Canada; Smith said she would vote to keep Alberta in Canada and called roughly 22 per cent support for separation in a recent poll “still too high for my liking”. Al Jazeera
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