Pipeline politics are making strange bedfellows, as Bloc leader and B.C. premier meet up

OTTAWA — A potential pipeline to the West Coast has created strange political bedfellows.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a meeting with British Columbia Premier David Eby on Dec. 2, only days after the federal government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alberta paving the way for a new bitumen pipeline.

Blanchet offered his help to B.C. last week — seeing that the MOU was negotiated without the province’s input and offers to relax key climate policies such as the tanker ban — and Eby’s team and his quickly came into contact to coordinate a virtual meeting.

Blanchet said they quickly agreed that, on certain subjects, they were on the same page.

He said the MOU sets a “precedent” that he does not want to see repeated in Quebec.

“On the protection of British Columbia’s jurisdiction, of course, we will be a staunch ally of the Eby government,” said Blanchet, shortly after their meeting.

Without disclosing the details of their conversation, the Bloc leader described his exchange with Eby as “very cordial.”

“I don’t have very much contact with premiers of Canadian provinces,” Blanchet coyly admitted.

A spokeswoman for Eby confirmed that a meeting with Blanchet took place last week but downplayed its importance.

“Premier Eby regularly has conversations with leaders across the country, and this was one of those meetings,” said director of communications Bhinder Sajan in an email.

Blanchet offered to use some of his party’s time in Question Period to be an “interlocutor” that can carry some of B.C.’s concerns and “confront” Carney’s government on its “contradictions.” He, however, specified that Eby did not ask for his party’s help.

Blanchet said he had asked the government prior to the signing of the MOU whether it would not allow any pipeline to go through B.C. without the prior consent of its government and First Nations, and he got reassurances that that would be the case.

“Am I right in thinking that this matter had already been settled and that we were lied to?” he asked on Dec. 2.

Blanchet was subsequently reprimanded by the Speaker of the House of Commons, as MPs cannot accuse each other of being less than honourable in the chamber.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said he respects the rights of provinces, including B.C.

“The memorandum of understanding clearly states that the Government of Canada and the Province of Alberta will work together with British Columbia,” he said.

“An agreement is required for there to be a pipeline.”

Blanchet shot back: “When one wants to get a party’s agreement, then that party should be invited to participate in the agreement from the get-go.”

An Abacus Data poll conducted since the MOU was signed has shown that Canadians are generally supportive of the idea of a pipeline to the West Coast. Nationally, 55 per cent of respondents either strongly or somewhat support the idea, while 18 per cent are opposed.

The support for a pipeline is significantly lower in Quebec, where 42 per cent of respondents are in favour of the idea, and 26 per cent oppose it. But a third of respondents have no clear opinion on it yet — 32 per cent are either neutral or are “not sure.”

In B.C., where the pipeline is set to go through, respondents have clear feelings about the prospective project. The poll shows that 53 per cent of respondents in the province support it while 30 per cent oppose it. Only 18 per cent are neutral or “not sure.”

To little surprise, the highest show of support for the project is in Alberta — with no less than 74 per cent of respondents who are in favour.

Politically, Carney’s MOU with Alberta has led to the resignation of former environment minister Steven Guilbeault from cabinet and fierce criticism from environmental groups and Indigenous peoples. But most Canadians seem to be on board — for now.

Numbers from Abacus Data show that 54 per cent of respondents believe this is a “worthwhile compromise that could bring major economic gains to Canada” while 24 per cent believe this is a “betrayal” of Canada’s progress on environmental policies.

Blanchet, who saw the evolution of the debate over the Energy East pipeline play in Quebec before the project was cancelled in 2017, said many people support the idea of a pipeline at first, but tend to grow skeptical once they see the details of the project.

This week, federal Conservatives will be forcing all MPs — including B.C. Liberal MPs — to make their position known publicly on the prospective pipeline to the West Coast.

They will be debating and voting on a motion on Tuesday brought forward by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s troops to take note of the MOU with Alberta and support the construction of one or more pipeline to reach Asian markets, “including through an appropriate adjustment” to the tanker ban.

National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com

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