Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada must move faster to supply the world with reliable energy, warning in British Columbia that global instability has created an “energy crisis” while Ottawa faces resistance from the province over a potential new oil pipeline to the Pacific coast.
Speaking Wednesday to a business audience at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade before meeting B.C. Premier David Eby, Carney said recent international shocks have disrupted energy supply and put many countries under pressure. He argued Canada has both the resources and the responsibility to respond.
“Unlike many countries, Canada can be part of the solution, for the world, for ourselves,” he said. “Canada is a stable, reliable partner in a world that is anything but.”
Carney framed his government’s energy push as a response to global uncertainty, climate risks and economic pressure from the ongoing U.S. trade war, which has hit several Canadian sectors. His plan includes faster project approvals, changes to clean energy policy and support for a new oil pipeline to the Pacific.
He said the conflict in Iran has driven up fuel prices and taken some supply offline, including a significant portion of Qatar’s gas. Carney called the situation a “three-dimensional energy crisis,” citing affordability, energy security and climate change.
“In a rapidly changing world, Canada must become the source of our own affordable, clean, reliable power because when we master energy, we master our destiny,” Carney said.
Carney’s visit came amid sharp disagreement with Eby, who has criticized a memorandum of understanding between Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Eby said Tuesday that the prime minister was rewarding Smith, whom he called a “separatist premier,” and her “bad behaviour” by adjusting the industrial carbon tax regime and backing her push for a West Coast pipeline.
Eby strongly opposes oil infrastructure through northern B.C. and later told Carney, in front of cameras, that British Columbia wants its “fair share of federal investment” and wants “B.C. priorities” addressed.
He also said energy development “has to go hand-in-hand with environmental protection,” and warned that any attempt to lift the oil tanker ban would be a non-starter.
Carney told the Vancouver audience that a pipeline would only proceed if the Pathways carbon capture and storage system moves ahead to reduce emissions. He said Indigenous peoples must be consulted and receive economic benefits if the project advances.
While Carney previously said “the government of British Columbia has to agree” before a pipeline proceeds, he said Wednesday the province must also “share substantial economic and financial benefits” from the project.
He also pushed back against claims Ottawa is too focused on Alberta’s pipeline proposal, saying nearly one-third of major projects fast-tracked by his government come from B.C.
“If things get stalled here, we’re going to be spending more time elsewhere in the country,” Carney said.
“We need to move forward. We need to invest at scale in the country. For all the reasons I mentioned, affordability, sustainability, independence and prosperity,” he said.
Despite the pipeline dispute, Eby ended on a conciliatory note.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the prime minister is a friend to B.C.,” he said.
