Can Canada build a new oil pipeline? That's 'overfocusing' on a 'hypothetical,' energy minister says

OTTAWA — Federal Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson says the question of whether there is a business case for a new bitumen pipeline in Canada will be up to the private sector to decide.

He also suggests the question of whether the country can, in fact, build a new oil pipeline to be an “overfocusing” on a “hypothetical.”

“I think Canada can build many things,” Hodgson told National Post in a wide-ranging interview on Monday.

“The over-focusing on what right now is hypothetical… What I want to do is focus on when real proponents bring real things forward. We will help them get them done.”

The minister’s comments come as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith seeks to have Prime Minister Mark Carney include her yet-to-be-submitted proposal to build a million-barrel-a-day bitumen pipeline from Edmonton to British Columbia’s northern coast as part of his next batch of nation-building projects to be considered for fast-tracked approvals, set to be unveiled by Nov. 16.

Smith has argued that doing so would be the “trigger” companies need to come forward as proponents and that listing her project as one of national interest would be the “signal” that Carney’s government was serious, but Hodgson said the process for being designated remains the same for all proponents.

“We fully understand it is the federal government’s ultimate jurisdiction for interprovincial pipelines,” Hodsgon said, adding that the federal government has said proponents must work with impacted jurisdictions and First Nations.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a wind project, a port, a railway, a road. We tell every proponent the exact same thing.”

British Columbia Premier David Eby has expressed concern over Alberta’s proposal, not only over how impacted coastal First Nations have so far voiced disapproval of a new pipeline, but with her ask that Carney’s government even consider it, saying it was not a “real project,” given how it lacks any private sector proponent or money.

Earlier this year, Carney ushered in a new approvals process through the Building Canada Act, which is at the core of how his government plans to get more projects off the ground and attract hundreds of billions in new private sector investment, as a way to bolster Canada’s economy, in the face of economic threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The first batch of nation-building projects under review by the Major Projects Office, which Carney’s government created to be a single point of contact for proponents looking to secure the necessary approvals and permits, includes an expansion to a natural gas liquefaction project in B.C., upgrades to the Port of Montreal, two mines, and a small modular nuclear reactor in Ontario.

While Carney’s government has expressed an interest in seeing a carbon capture and storage project known as “Pathways Plus” developed, Smith announced earlier this month that Alberta would be submitting a proposal to the Major Projects Office for the construction of a new bitumen pipeline to B.C’s northern coast.

She has said the goal is for a private sector proponent to eventually take on the project, with discussions underway with several companies. For now, Smith’s United Conservative Party government said it planned to put up $14 million of taxpayer money to complete technical work on the proposal, which the premier said would be submitted for consideration no later than May 2026.

Asked whether he believes there to a business case for building a new bitumen pipeline, Hodgson said, “that’s up for the private sector proponents to decide.”

“Alberta has some work to do,” Hodgson said.

“In the spring, you can expect the federal government to be at the table, working constructively with any proponent to see what is possible.”

National Post

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