Alberta unveils oil pipeline proposal to West Coast Thursday
The province will detail a proposed million-barrel-per-day pipeline route on July 2, after missing Tuesday's deadline due to Canada Day.
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Alberta will unveil its proposal Thursday, July 2 for a major oil pipeline to the West Coast, one day later than originally planned due to the Canada Day holiday.
The province was given a July 1 deadline to submit the proposal to the Major Projects Office. Sam Blackett, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's press secretary, confirmed the announcement would shift to Thursday.
The proposed pipeline would carry one million barrels per day to the coast. Although the specific route remains unknown, documents obtained by reporters show at least three proposals would terminate on B.C.'s North Coast — a region where an oil tanker moratorium has been in place since the Northern Gateway pipeline fight.
The proposal faces significant opposition in British Columbia. Premier David Eby and numerous First Nations, including the Haisla and Nisga'a, have stated there is no path forward for an oil pipeline to the North Coast. Des Nobels, a longtime North Coast fisherman near Prince Rupert who fought the Northern Gateway proposal, said he is ready to oppose the project again.
"We had hoped we would not see these sorts of incursions again," Nobels said. "But here we are, not all that long afterwards redoing what we have previously done."
There have been some signs of support in B.C., including the election of a Conservative MP in Skeena-Bulkley Valley, which spans the North Coast and nearby regions. But Nobels said that result does not indicate pipeline backing from residents in the area.
