VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Energy Minister Adrian Dix has dismissed the latest push by Alberta’s premier for an oil pipeline to the West Coast, saying the “definition of being Canadian isn’t to agree with everything Danielle Smith says.”
Smith, who’s in Ottawa today, says B.C. Premier David Eby’s recent rejection of her pipeline pitch last week is “un-Canadian” and “unconstitutional.”
She made her comments after Eby called the proposed pipeline “fictional” in a video posted Monday.
Dix says B.C. will continue to “support real projects” with real proponents and real money behind them, calling Smith’s proposed pipeline a “political proposal.”
The minister says Canadians should be coming together to work on real projects that drive jobs and incomes for families, instead of having debates about projects that lack business plans.
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad says he agrees with Smith, and says that Eby needs to be “called out for blocking the prosperity of Canadians.”
Rustad says B.C. residents need to think of themselves “not as British Columbians” but as Canadians, who must help landlocked Alberta and Saskatchewan get their products to market.
He says that the proposed pipeline can help renew Confederation by quelling Alberta’s separatist movement, which “has real grievances.”
Rustad acknowledges that such a pipeline would require support from First Nations, which he would seek, and the federal government to lift the tanker bank off B.C.’s North coast.
He says he’ll reveal his plan to go around the tanker ban at a later date, should Ottawa refuse to lift it, adding that he’s “extremely optimistic” that there will be a pipeline in the future.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2025.