Trans Mountain is facing $292,000 in regulatory fines for alleged environmental issues in January 2024 along a stretch of its British Columbia pipeline expansion route hit by a major rainstorm. The Canada Energy Regulator posted four penalties dated Oct. 3 to their website and referred The Canadian Press to an inspection order and compliance report when asked for details. The inspection order details alleged issues with watercourse crossings, questionable response times, broken wildlife [Read more]

VICTORIA - Lifting the oil tanker ban off British Columbia's North Coast for a nonexistent pipeline from Alberta would endanger billions in other real investments that Premier David Eby says will need the support of coastal First Nations. Eby says he's asking the federal government to reaffirm its support for the tanker ban off the West Coast, after Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday that lifting the tanker ban would depend on a number of factors. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has [Read more]

EDMONTON - Alberta's government says Ottawa is dodging responsibility by not standing behind a proposed pipeline project to the B.C. coast. Premier Danielle Smith's office says the decision to build a pipeline lies solely with Prime Minister Mark Carney and the federal government. Her spokesperson Sam Blackett says anything short of decisive support would be a betrayal of the constitutional rights of Alberta's citizens and call into question whether Canada is a functional democracy. It [Read more]

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney says the fate of the emissions cap on oil and gas producers depends on other efforts to lower emissions. Carney's comment, coming in response to a question from a reporter at an event in Ottawa today, appears to be a shift from his stance before the election, when he committed to keeping the emissions cap in place. Carney was asked if he is considering dropping the cap and the tanker ban along the B.C. coast — both measures the oil and gas industry and the [Read more]

OTTAWA - The head of Canada's new Major Projects Office and her staff sidestepped MPs' questions Thursday about whether she has special powers to skirt the West Coast tanker ban. Dawn Farrell was hired earlier this year as the CEO of the new office, which has been tasked by the federal government with reviewing project proposals to see if they qualify for fast-track approval. Farrell told the House of Commons standing committee on environment and sustainable development 500 projects are [Read more]

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 [Read more]

OTTAWA - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is in Ottawa this week, following up on her now week-old pledge to help fund the development of a proposal for a new oil pipeline to Canada's West Coast. Smith is hopeful the project — which as of yet has no private sector proponent or a suggested route option — can be submitted for consideration by Prime Minister Mark Carney's new Major Projects Office by next spring. Smith met with Carney on Monday at the Ottawa airport, just before he boarded a [Read more]