British Columbia Premier David Eby has once again dismissed the idea of an oil pipeline to the coast, deriding it as a “fantasy bitumen pipeline”. The language is telling. When a leader relies on derision rather than debate, it’s often because the facts are not on his side.
Economic Growth Isn’t a Fantasy
Pipelines are not fantasies—they are infrastructure. They move the products that sustain our standard of living and fund the very social programs politicians like Mr. Eby champion. Canada remains a resource-based economy, and the energy sector continues to be one of our largest employers and contributors to GDP. Every barrel that travels safely by pipeline instead of rail reduces transportation costs, lowers emissions, and increases our global competitiveness.
Blocking projects like this doesn’t make demand disappear—it simply hands opportunity to the United States, where President Trump and his successors have been eager to revive domestic energy production, and to other parts of the world with far less glamorous ethical and environmental records. While Washington builds, British Columbia dithers. Refusing to connect our abundant western resources to Pacific markets is not environmental leadership—it’s economic self-sabotage.
A Pipeline Is a Pro-Canadian Project
A new tidewater pipeline would do more than create jobs. It would strengthen national unity and affirm that Canada can actually complete nation-building projects again. The Trans-Canada Highway, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and our power grids were all controversial in their day. Today, they are symbols of a confident, independent Canada. Why should responsible energy infrastructure be any different?
Moreover, getting our resources to Asian markets through B.C. means higher revenues for producers, more tax and royalty income for schools and hospitals, and fewer discounts forced by our reliance on U.S. buyers. It’s about keeping Canadian wealth in Canada.
The Politics of Fear and the Rhetoric of “Bitumen”
Mr. Eby’s preferred vocabulary—calling it “bitumen” instead of “oil” or even “diluted bitumen”—isn’t accidental. It’s designed to conjure images of sludge and spills rather than a vital Canadian export that funds pensions and public transit. This sort of rhetoric divides Canadians and undermines rational discussion. Pipelines today are engineered to world-leading safety standards, monitored electronically, and supported by robust environmental review. Pretending otherwise is cynical politics dressed up as moral virtue.
Leadership Means Building, Not Blocking
British Columbians want both environmental stewardship and economic security. They know it’s possible to have both. What they don’t need is a Premier who trades opportunity for applause lines. Calling a pipeline a “fantasy” doesn’t make it one—it only makes British Columbia look closed for business at a time when Canada needs investment, jobs, and global relevance.
A responsible leader would work with Ottawa and Alberta and all the provinces to ensure that energy development proceeds safely and sustainably, not shut down dialogue before it starts. The real fantasy is believing Canada can prosper by saying no to the thousands of skilled jobs that depend on responsible resource development.
Yes, a new pipeline proposal to the B.C. coast may not yet exist — but that’s all the more reason to tone down the divisive rhetoric and focus on what would be needed to make such a project viable. Visionary leadership means creating the conditions for opportunity, not condemning it before it’s even proposed.