Liberals to vote against Poilievre's pipeline motion, calling it 'immature' and an 'insult'

The Liberal government will vote against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's motion Tuesday calling for a new oil pipeline to the Pacific — but ministers insisted it doesn't mean Ottawa has given up on the memorandum of understanding signed with Alberta last month.

Poilievre's motion, which lifts some of the language included in that agreement brokered between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, calls for MPs to back at least one pipeline that moves a million barrels of Alberta bitumen to the coast for export to Asia.

The Conservatives brought forward this non-binding motion to show divisions in the Liberal caucus on the issue — a divide the party says puts the possibility of a pipeline at risk.

In an interview with CBC News on Sunday, Poilievre said this vote was designed to force Carney to "put up or shut up" and prove to Canadians he's serious about building a pipeline.

With some Liberal MPs skittish about building a new pipeline despite Carney's commitment, Poilievre also framed this motion as a chance for the prime minister to shut down what he called his "keep it in the ground" caucus.

But the federal ministers responsible for implementing the agreement with Alberta dismissed the Conservative manoeuvre as a stunt that accomplishes nothing.

Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson told reporters that Poilievre's motion "cherry-picks" language from the MOU.

He said that memorandum was "a comprehensive agreement," and Poilievre's motion is focused on only one aspect — the possible pipeline — when there's other aspects to it, such as electricity interties to neighbouring provinces, nuclear energy development and a multi-billion-dollar carbon capture project.

The motion is also silent on some environmental issues, like the industrial carbon tax and methane reduction regulations.

"Canadians see the motion put forward today for what it is: it's a cynical ploy to divide us," Hodgson said.

MP calls motion 'an insult towards Indigenous peoples'

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty was also pointed in her criticism of Poilievre, saying the Conservative motion is "an immature waste of parliamentary time."

She said it's "clearly an insult towards Indigenous peoples," because it leaves out some important language in the MOU relating to First Nations, Métis and Inuit.

The Canada-Alberta agreement calls for Indigenous consultation and, where appropriate, accommodation — and the possibility for Indigenous co-ownership of whatever gets built.

"This motion is, for me, really an intensive method to be disrespectful to Indigenous people," Gull-Masty said.

"Pierre Poilievre is not a serious leader," added Liberal Alberta MP Corey Hogan. "This is designed to poke at people."

"It's a very frustrating motion for anybody who wants to see a pipeline built, such as myself. It's designed to be a trap for the Liberals, but it's at the expense of the country and it's at the expense of our national economy," Hogan said.

He said voting yes could be seen as undermining forthcoming Indigenous consultation and negotiations with B.C. and voting no could be interpreted as the Liberals backtracking on a pipeline — something he said simply wasn't the case.

"We do support the pipeline. The pipeline is in the MOU. We support the entire MOU. This game-playing puts at risk the very thing that Pierre Poilievre purports to want," Hogan said.