Carney unveils $1.2B ocean plan ahead of Alberta-to-B.C. pipeline call
The funding announcement comes just days before Ottawa's Thursday deadline to decide whether a proposed pipeline from Alberta to B.C.'s south coast qualifies as a project of national interest.
Why it matters
The pipeline decision, expected days after this announcement, directly affects Alberta's ability to export oil to new markets amid a looming provincial separation referendum.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced $1.2 billion in federal funding for ocean protections in North Vancouver on Tuesday, saying Canada must strengthen marine safeguards as major West Coast projects move forward, including a possible new pipeline from Alberta and an expansion of Metro Vancouver's port.
The money will fund expanded Canadian Coast Guard monitoring, a national near-shore weather forecasting system, a marine mammal oil spill response plan, upgraded search and rescue stations, seabed mapping and fisheries conservation work. Carney said the proposed pipeline would follow a route similar to the existing Trans Mountain line, avoid highly sensitive areas, and would not affect the existing tanker ban on B.C.'s north coast. He said the project could create close to 150,000 jobs nationally and reduce reliance on the United States.
Ottawa faces a Thursday deadline to decide whether to designate the pipeline a project of national interest, a decision coming weeks before Albertans vote in a referendum on separating from Canada. Earlier Tuesday, LNG Canada confirmed it will proceed with a Phase 2 expansion in Kitimat, B.C.
Carney also addressed the proposed Roberts Bank port expansion near Delta, B.C., for which his government has previously floated roughly $10 billion in support. He said $100 million will go toward monitoring underwater noise affecting whales across all three coasts, $90 million will boost fisheries enforcement with tools like drones, and $186 million will support the Northern Shelf Bioregion Reconciliation Framework Agreement in the Great Bear Sea region.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.