Facing a tense meeting with First Nations leaders this week over the Cowichan Nation title ruling, Premier David Eby sought to pivot Indigenous attention back onto a cause they could rally around together: opposing Alberta’s pitch for a new oil pipeline to the B.C. coast.
Eby took another pre-emptive strike against the Alberta proposal on Wednesday, standing with like-minded First Nations leaders in a declaration of support for Ottawa’s coastal oil tanker moratorium — a law that renders a new pipeline impractical because it would prevent actually shipping oil from the B.C. north coast to overseas markets.
“This oil tanker exclusion zone recognizes the obvious, that one crude oil spill would destroy billions of dollars in economic activity, would destroy the livelihoods of thousands of people and families up and down the coast, and there is no technology, there is no ability, to clean up that spill,” Eby said Wednesday.
“Putting it at risk to get rid of the oil tanker ban makes absolutely no sense, either economically or for the country.”
The optics were strong, with Eby and the Coastal First Nations organization, which represents eight nations on the north and central coast, publicly signing a large replica of the declaration in Vancouver.
But the event also served to underscore two unspoken points: the BC NDP government is getting nervous Alberta might actually put together a viable project, and the government’s relationship with First Nations is navigating troubled waters of its own as it appeals the Cowichan Tribes landmark court ruling that puts Indigenous title over private property rights.
The timing of the event Wednesday could not have made both points clearer. It came one day after a federal budget that went heavy on major projects to get Canadian exports to overseas markets. And it landed at the mid-week mark of First Nations Leadership Council meetings in Vancouver, where B.C.’s appeal of the Cowichan’s court victory is a sore point.
Eby stickhandled the latter at a press conference on Tuesday, insisting he had to stand up for private property rights after a BC Supreme Court justice placed Indigenous title in a superior legal position as part of the Cowichan case. First Nations leaders urged him to negotiate a resolution.
On the former, Eby admitted he’s had conversations with Prime Minister Mark Carney about his opposition to an Alberta pipeline from the oil sands to B.C.’s coast, and that Ottawa is “very aware” of his position.
“What I’ve heard the federal government say is that they will not advance projects over the objections of the provincial governments or First Nations through the Major Projects Office or otherwise,” he said.
But not all First Nations along the route from Alberta to B.C.’s coast oppose the project, the premier admitted. Nonetheless, he cast the event as representative of the entire province.
“I think it’s pretty clear today that there is no support for lifting that tanker ban in the province of British Columbia,” he said.
It’s the latest in a series of moves that show the premier is increasingly worried Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s proposal may pick up private support as well as, eventually, an endorsement from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government.
Alberta Premier Smith has accused Eby of being “unCanadian” by blocking access to the coast that other provinces need to export goods to market. She has said she hopes to have movement from the prime minister on the issue by the CFL Grey Cup, set for Nov. 16.
Smith has called for the end to Ottawa’s emissions cap, as well as the tanker moratorium. Tuesday’s federal budget charted a path to remove the emissions cap. But the government has not made a definitive decision on tankers so far.
“Simply because the premier of Alberta would like to get rid of the oil tanker ban on the North Coast does not mean that anybody wants to build this pipeline,” said Eby.
Opposition BC Conservative leader John Rustad called Eby’s new pledge “another attempt to block economic progress in British Columbia.
“Tankers regularly transit the North Coast safely, and modern navigation and spill-prevention technology significantly reduce risks,” he said.
“David Eby’s fear-based rhetoric ignores this reality and stifles opportunity in B.C.”
The 2019 oil tanker law prohibits ships carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of crude oil from stopping, loading or unloading at any ports from the tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaskan border. It compliments a longstanding voluntary exclusion zone for large American tankers and domestic ships not scheduled to stop at any southern B.C. ports.
The federal government is looking for ways to diversify Canada’s economy to new markets, in response to the United States trade war, and Carney has publicly expressed support for at least hearing out Alberta’s pipeline proposal.
Eby continued to claim Wednesday that allowing oil tankers off the coast would lead First Nations to withdraw support for his provincial economic agenda, which includes expanding liquified natural gas plans and mining operations in the north.
“Those thousands of jobs, that billions of dollars in economic activity, that Dungeness crab on your table, or that salmon that you’re enjoying for dinner, that halibut that you’re eating, guess where it comes from? It comes from that North Coast,” he said.
“That is major economic activity for BC. It’s tourism, and sustainability, and it’s uniquely Canadian.”
First Nations leaders at the summit on Tuesday backed Eby’s position.
“So in terms of pipelines, it’s it is a difficult position to be in to try to get development knowing full well that there’s a provincial government stance, there’s a federal government, and we’re at this place right now because of what we’re seeing in the United States,” said Terry Teegee, regional chief of the BC Assembly of First Nations.
He urged “important, realistic discussions about it” and said oil pipelines are not an issue going away.
“The whole pipeline matter is a non-starter for us,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs.
“It always has been, and it always will be.”
On that issue, at least, Eby and First Nations leaders were on the same page this week.