The top executive of Canada’s biggest crude shipper says his company won’t consider devoting anything beyond time and expertise to Alberta’s plan for a West Coast bitumen pipeline unless Ottawa overhauls some major environmental policies.
Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel said in a speech to the Empire Club of Canada on Thursday that industry is keen to build and Canada must act urgently if it is to live up to its potential as a global energy player.
“The last 10 years have been a competitiveness disaster for Canada. But the next 10 can be a renaissance. If we choose to lead, this is our second chance. One doesn’t often get second chances,” he said.
Ebel made his remarks a day after Premier Danielle Smith announced $14 million in provincial funding for early regulatory work on a pipeline proposal to a yet-to-be-determined port on the northern B.C. coast, possibly Prince Rupert.
He said there’s a reason why the Alberta government is working to propose a pipeline and not a private sector player.
“The previous government’s tanker ban effectively makes that export pipeline illegal. No company would build a pipeline to nowhere.”
“The tanker ban is a great example of how things will have to change to allow our country to maximize its economic potential. Let markets and real demand guide routes and capacities while government focuses on enabling the conditions for success,” Ebel said.
A committee made up of industry, political and First Nations leaders is to help Alberta work out a route and other specifics for a formal application to the new federal Major Projects Office, which aims to speed along projects deemed in the national interest.
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Enbridge will be represented on the committee along with Trans Mountain Corp., the Crown corporation that transports oilsands crude to the Vancouver area, and South Bow Corp., which operates the Keystone pipeline to the United States.
In his speech, Ebel repeated industry leaders’ call for the end of three federal policies he says stand in the way of a new pipeline being built: the ban on oil tankers through an ecologically sensitive stretch of northern coastline; a cap on emissions industry has slammed as a de facto production cap and an industrial price on carbon industry players contend hurts competitiveness.
The group of energy sector bosses has also urged speedier environmental reviews and greater First Nations participation in resource projects.
Smith has said the goal is for the private sector to eventually take the lead on the pipeline, with potential Indigenous ownership. Ebel told reporters after his speech that it’s “way too premature” for Enbridge to think about a greater role beyond sharing its intellectual capital until Ottawa makes legislative changes.
Meanwhile, analysts at CIBC are skeptical Alberta’s pipeline plans will bear fruit.
“While we applaud Alberta Premier Smith’s efforts to promote the energy industry through the development of a new liquids pipeline to the West Coast, we are doubtful in the success of such a plan,” they wrote.
“While we remain open-minded to the possibility, the political and economic realities may be difficult to overcome, as evidenced by industry experience with similar projects, including Northern Gateway, Keystone XL and Energy East.”
Northern Gateway was to have run to the B.C. port of Kitimat, while Keystone XL would have shipped more crude to U.S. refiners and Energy East would have stretched to the East Coast.
All three were the subject of intense environmental opposition and political and legal battles.
First Nations leaders along the northern B.C. coast and B.C. Premier David Eby have raised alarm over the prospect of undoing the tanker ban.
Environmental groups have expressed dismay at public dollars being spent on fossil fuel infrastructure.
“It’s economically perverse that the provincial government will spend public money on a project the private sector has balked at, while simultaneously sabotaging private investment in renewable energy projects the market is demanding,” said Janetta McKenzie, director of the Pembina Institute’s oil and gas program.
In Ottawa, Conservative Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said there’s only one person who can ensure a new pipeline is built, and that’s the prime minister.
“Mark Carney really only has to do one thing: get out of the way,” Poilievre said, echoing Ebel’s calls for legislative overhaul.
Alberta is within its rights to put forward a proposal and it will be evaluated against the same rules as other proponents applying to the Major Projects Office, the office of Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said in a statement.
It said an oil pipeline project would need to move forward in conjunction with the Pathways project in Alberta, which would capture carbon emissions from the oilsands and store them underground.
“Building major projects includes meaningful consultations with Indigenous rights holders, working with all affected jurisdictions, and alignment with Canada’s objectives with respect to climate change and clean growth,” it said.
“Once any proponent has done this work, the federal government is open to evaluating a project on its merits.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
