{"id":116353,"date":"2026-07-04T18:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T18:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/116353\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T18:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T18:32:11","slug":"b-c-ottawa-deal-gets-mixed-reactions-from-environmental-advocates-my-east-kootenay-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/116353\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C.-Ottawa deal gets mixed reactions from environmental advocates : My East Kootenay Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Environmental groups and coastal First Nations say a major economic agreement announced this week between British Columbia and the federal government protects the North Coast tanker ban, but leaves new concerns about a possible southern oil pipeline route.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney and B.C. Premier David Eby unveiled a multibillion-dollar deal Thursday that included a promise to preserve the federal oil-tanker ban off B.C.\u2019s north coast.<\/p>\n

It was announced hours before Alberta Premier Danielle Smith unveiled details of her plans for a new west coast oil pipeline through a joint venture with Ottawa, Trans Mountain and Pembina Pipeline.<\/p>\n

Her application to the federal Major Projects Office calls for a southern route to the coast, along the existing Trans Mountain pipeline corridor.<\/p>\n

She said the pipeline could transport more than one million barrels of oil per day to B.C.\u2019s west coast, for export to Asian markets.<\/p>\n

B.C.\u2019s agreement with the federal government said that while B.C. does not seek a new pipeline, it would participate in necessary routing and permitting discussions, as long as Ottawa maintains the tanker ban and engages meaningfully with First Nations.<\/p>\n

The deal said Canada would also renew investments into coastal spill response, and recognizes the need to protect whale habitats off the B.C. coast.<\/p>\n

If the pipeline project goes ahead, Ottawa and B.C. would discuss setting up an environmental liability and emergency response fund for B.C. and First Nations.<\/p>\n

The Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, an alliance of several First Nations on the north Pacific coast, celebrated Carney\u2019s commitment not to change the oil tanker ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cBritish Columbians, Canadians and the First Nations who call this place home want this region to remain protected,\u201d said a statement from Marilyn Slett, the group\u2019s president and elected Chief of the Heiltsuk Nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no technology that can clean up an oil spill at sea, and a single oil spill could destroy our way of life. We remain steadfast in our position that oil tankers will never be part of our vision for a healthy, productive and sustainable North Coast,\u201d said Slett.<\/p>\n

\"CoastalCoastal First Nations meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney in January 2026, calling on him to preserve the oil tanker ban. | Photo: Coastal First Nations<\/p>\n

Flossie Baker, lead organizer with Sierra Club B.C., said she had mixed emotions after Thursday\u2019s announcements.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the one hand, I\u2019m feeling hugely relieved and grateful that the tanker ban on the north coast remains in place,\u201d she said. \u201cAt the same time, it feels bittersweet because the threat of an oil spill hasn\u2019t disappeared, it\u2019s just shifted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baker said an increase in oil tankers travelling through the Salish Sea on the south coast of B.C. would put pressure on populations of endangered Southern Resident orcas.<\/p>\n

The Southern Residents are a genetically unique population of orcas whose habitat includes southern B.C. coastal waters. Parks Canada says there were only 73 remaining individuals as of January 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that the energy that was galvanized to stop the tanker ban from being lifted is now just going to pivot towards trying to stop the southern route and protect the orcas,\u201d said Baker.<\/p>\n

\"B.C.B.C. Green Leader Emily Lowan speaks to reporters alongside MLAs Rob Botterell and Jeremy Valeriote. May 28, 2026 | Vista News file photo<\/p>\n

The B.C. Green party noted Carney and Eby provided little detail on the scale and scope of its promised clean energy investments.<\/p>\n

Green leader Emily Lowan called it a wasted opportunity to invest in renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarney, Smith and Eby are performing a choreographed struggle where the winners were always going to be foreign fossil fuel companies,\u201d said Lowan in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cB.C. could be leading the country in manufacturing electrified trains and buses, creating revolutionary technology like heat pumps and a clean grid, investing in a care economy \u2014 that is the economy British Columbians deserve and what the BC Greens support,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Eby said Friday he shares concerns about the environmental impact of a new pipeline.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are concerned about this pipeline project, and we also recognize the restricted world that we live in, in provincial jurisdiction,\u201d said Eby.<\/p>\n

He said a goal of B.C.\u2019s agreement with Ottawa was to get as many environmental protections as possible around the proposed pipeline project.<\/p>\n

Eby pointed to a section of the agreement that commits B.C. and Canada to working with other provinces and territories on developing a national carbon credit framework. The plan would include the use of credits generated through consumer sustainability choices, such as retrofits and electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis agreement puts in black and white specific commitments around the environment and climate that we would not have otherwise had the opportunity to get,\u201d said Eby.<\/p>\n

\"PrimePrime Minister Mark Carney meets with Premier David Eby in Vancouver, July 2, 2026 | B.C. Government photo<\/p>\n

Alberta, Canada and the Oil Sands Alliance, made up of five major oil sands companies, also agreed to advance construction of the Pathways carbon capture and storage project.<\/p>\n

The federal government said, alongside other initiatives, it would achieve 16 million tonnes of emissions reductions per year.<\/p>\n

\u201cPathways would make Alberta bitumen among the lowest-emission heavy oil globally,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n

Baker said she doesn\u2019t find that argument compelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see this as a Hail Mary to try and make a fundamentally climate-wrecking project appear climate friendly,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s announcements came two days after Carney said changes to his government\u2019s energy strategy would mean Canada\u2019s emissions will be higher in the next few years than projected under the previous government\u2019s climate plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my judgement, that plan was not sustainable over the long term,\u201d said Carney, in a video message posted on YouTube on June 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Environmental groups and coastal First Nations say a major economic agreement announced this week between British Columbia and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[3517,39806,3178,8288,111,39250,39807,3940],"class_list":["post-116353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mark-carney","tag-climate","tag-coastal-first-nations","tag-danielle-smith","tag-david-eby","tag-mark-carney","tag-oil-tankers","tag-orcas","tag-pipeline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}