Federal/Provincial Deal:1) (Updated) Carney, Smith sign pipeline deal, open door to changing B.C. tanker ban; 2) (Updated) Eby brands pipeline ‘energy vampire’ as First Nations vow it will never happen; 3) Chiefs vote to reject changes to B.C. coastal oil tanker ban; 4)National chief rips Carney government’s approach to consultation with First Nations) Liberal MPs say party remains united after Guilbeault resigns from cabinet
1) (Updated) Carney, Smith sign pipeline deal, open door to changing B.C. tanker ban
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Canadian Press Staff, November 27, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have signed an agreement that commits them to working toward building an oil pipeline to the West Coast — and opens the door to changes to the coastal tanker ban.
At a signing ceremony in Calgary on Thursday, the two agreed that Ottawa would enable the export of oil through a deepsea port to Asian markets and “if necessary” adjust the tanker ban to make that happen.
The memorandum of understanding says Ottawa’s commitment is contingent on the pipeline being approved as a project of national interest, and on the project providing “opportunities for Indigenous co-ownership and shared economic benefits.”
“This is a really great day for Albertans,” Smith said ahead of the signing event.
“We have been working for some time on addressing the nine bad laws, as I like to call them, that have been impacting our investment climate here. I’m pleased that we’ve reached an agreement to substantially removing and revising those laws.”
Those “bad laws” Smith cites include the clean electricity regulations and the federal emissions cap — both of which Alberta will be exempt from under the memorandum of understanding with Ottawa.
“It’s a great day for Alberta and a great day for Canada,” Carney said.
“In effect, it created an energy transition, but really sets the stage for an industrial transformation. At the core of the agreement, of course, is a priority to have a pipeline to Asia. That’s going to make Canada stronger, more independent, more resilient, more sustainable.”
The memorandum of understanding says the plan is to build a pipeline to transport at least a million barrels a day. It says it would be built and financed by the private sector and would prioritize export access to Asia.
Government officials said no specific route for the pipeline has been mapped out yet. The MOU says an application for a pipeline project will be submitted to the Major Projects Office by July 1 — reiterating a previous commitment from Smith to have it ready in the spring.
While nobody from the private sector has yet stepped forward with an offer to build it, Smith said the MOU helps create the regulatory conditions to attract investment.
“I’m pretty confident with the people we have at the table that one, or a consortium of them, once we establish that it’s on the major projects list, will be willing to take this on,” Smith told reporters.
The MOU also opens the door to more pipelines, saying one “or more” would be built in addition to the planned Trans Mountain expansion.
The announcement comes after a group of First Nations in B.C. said that a new pipeline to the Pacific coast will never be built, and after B.C. Premier David Eby said lifting the tanker ban would threaten projects already in development in the region and consensus among coastal First Nations.
The memorandum of understanding between the federal and provincial governments says Ottawa and Alberta will engage with B.C. on the pipeline project and work with the province to advance its own economic interests through major projects.
The agreement pairs the pipeline project to the proposed Pathways Alliance carbon capture project and government officials say the two projects must be built in tandem.
The agreement says Ottawa and Alberta will with work with the Pathways Alliance partner companies — Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus, ConocoPhillips Canada, Imperial and Suncor — to identify by April 1 new emissions-reduction projects to be rolled out starting in 2027.
The memorandum of understanding says Ottawa and Alberta will sign an agreement by April 1 to mandate a 75 per cent cut in methane emissions by 2035 compared to 2014 levels.
That’s a slight change from Ottawa’s most recent draft regulations — published two years ago — which called for a 75 per cent reduction by 2030 compared to 2012 levels. The latest federal budget committed to reinforced methane regulations.
Ottawa also has committed to suspending the clean electricity regulations, but only in Alberta.
The regulations, which are to come into effect in 2035, would set limits on emissions from power generation using fossil fuels. Alberta has long criticized the regulations, as its grid is predominantly powered by natural gas.
But the commitment to suspending the regulations in Alberta is contingent on the federal and provincial governments coming to a new carbon pricing agreement by April 1. Alberta has agreed to increase its industrial carbon price to $130 per tonne by April 1, putting it above the federal benchmark.
The carve-out on the clean electricity regulations is a significant win for Alberta, which is trying to attract investment for AI data centres but has struggled with meeting their electricity demands.
The agreement sets a goal of boosting Alberta’s electricity generation to meet the needs of AI data centres, while Alberta commits to drafting with Ottawa a nuclear generation strategy by January 2027.
During a technical briefing Thursday, government officials said while Alberta’s commitment to a $130 per tonne carbon price is a “minimum” standard for the province, there are no guarantees it will increase on pace with the federal backstop price — which is set to rise to $170 per tonne by 2030.
Officials said those details still need to be negotiated, though the agreement signed Thursday cites “affordability” as one of the objectives.
Speaking to reporters after the signing ceremony, Smith said the target of $170 per tonne by 2030 is too ambitious.
“We’ve demonstrated, and I think the prime minister agrees, that’s too high too fast,” she said. “We understand there was always going to be a negotiation around that. We’re just glad that we have the means to manage it our way in Alberta.”
– Written by Nick Murray in Ottawa and Bill Graveland in Calgary
2) (Updated) Eby brands pipeline ‘energy vampire’ as First Nations vow it will never happen
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Ashley Joannou and Wolfgang Depner, November 27, 2025
First Nations leader says pipeline MOU changes nothing, tanker ban is non-negotiable
British Columbia Premier David Eby and First Nations have thrown up a wall of opposition to a proposed northern oil pipeline, after Alberta and the federal government signed a memorandum of understanding to work toward making it a reality.
Eby said Thursday that the pipeline proposal was a distraction that had already cost B.C. another investment opportunity, dubbing it a potential “energy vampire” draining federal, Indigenous and provincial resources.
Eby — who has called the project “fictional” — drew the line at legal action and said the province would not be going to court, as it did unsuccessfully against the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.
Coastal First Nations president Marilyn Slett had no such qualms, telling a news conference they would use “every tool in our tool box to ensure that this pipeline does not go ahead.”
“We’re looking at the legal options. We’re looking at our communities. Our communities are mobilizing,” she told a news conference.
She said in a statement that the project was never going to happen, that a tanker ban on the north coast “is not up for negotiation,” and the First Nations “will never tolerate any exemptions or carveouts, period.”
The memorandum of understanding commits Canada and Alberta to working toward a northern pipeline to B.C.’s coast, with Alberta acting as the proponent, and the federal government making changes to a tanker ban on the north coast “if necessary.”
Its signing comes after weeks of sniping between Eby and his counterparts in the Prairies.
Eby, who spoke in Victoria with the majority of his NDP caucus cheering him on from the steps of the B.C. legislature, said Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe was talking to Smith about the pipeline this month when he should have been talking with him about problems that potash company Nutrien was having getting its product to market.
Eby said that resulted in Nutrien deciding to ship Saskatchewan potash to global markets through Washington state, bypassing B.C.
“It really pissed me off that we lost the Nutrien deal, because I think that was entirely avoidable, and that is the one that gets under my skin,” said Eby, adding that B.C. and Canada could not afford to “lose real projects in the name of politics right now.”
The characterization of the pipeline as a non-existent political exercise had earlier been made by Eby’s Energy Minister Adrian Dix in the legislature, saying Canada needed to focus on “real projects” in contrast to “performative politics.”
Dix said a “Team Canada” approach should embrace projects that create jobs and unlock financial opportunities, as opposed to “MOUs on projects that don’t exist.”
The MOU says Ottawa and Alberta will engage with Indigenous Peoples in both Alberta and B.C. and promises to offer the opportunity for Indigenous co-ownership and “other forms of economic benefits.”
But Slett said Coastal First Nations have “zero interest” in co-owning or benefiting from a project that has the potential to destroy their way of life, citing the risk of a catastrophic oil spill.
“The honour of the Crown, means the federal government must consult with us on a nation to nation basis and Canada’s domestic and international legal commitments mean they must seek our consent,” she told her news conference.
“We will never consent to allowing oil tankers in our coastal waters. We will never tolerate exemptions to an oil tanker ban that has existed for over 50 years, and it is foundational to protecting our economy and our way of life.”
None of that sort of opposition, which reflects long-held positions, has dampened Smith’s enthusiasm for the project, and the MOU says Alberta and Canada “recognize their obligations to consult with, and where appropriate accommodate, Indigenous Peoples.”
The MOU also promises to collaborate with B.C. to ensure its residents “share substantial economic and financial benefits of the proposed pipeline.”
Smith said earlier Thursday that while there would have to be discussions about the pipeline with B.C., there’s “no mention of veto” for that province in the MOU.
“I think British Columbia has tried to use every tool in the tool box,” she said after the signing ceremony, referring to failed efforts by B.C. to block the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.
“I guess that was the term that they used before, and failed. It was clearly affirmed by the courts that this is not British Columbia’s decision to make.”
Smith said “a number of projects” that initially faced opposition in B.C. went on to get “a lot of enthusiasm,” citing LNG and other projects.
B.C. Conservative Opposition Leader John Rustad said the pipeline is the “right thing to do” for Canada, including B.C.
Simon Fraser University political science professor Andy Hira said he remains skeptical a new pipeline would ever go forward despite the MOU, calling it “political theatre” and an attempt by the federal Liberal government to win support in Alberta, a Conservative stronghold.
“There are provisions in the federal proposal that suggest that there have to be some acceptance by First Nations and jurisdictions that will be affected by the pipeline,” Hira said. “And to me, that is going to be a poison pill for the whole deal.”
Jason Alsop, president of the Council of Haida Nation and vice-president of the Great Bear Initiative, an alliance of Coastal First Nations, said he was disappointed in the MOU, also calling it political theatrics that won’t advance a pipeline.
“We’ve been very clear that the Coastal First Nations, the Haida Nation, the people of the coast, will never allow oil tankers or this pipeline in our territory because of the risks to our culture, our way of life and our self-sufficiency,” he said.
“The ocean is what looks after us, and we have a responsibility to uphold that.”
3) Chiefs vote to reject changes to B.C. coastal oil tanker ban
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Alessia Passafiume, December 2, 2025
First Nations chiefs voted unanimously Tuesday to press the government to uphold the oil tanker ban off the northern British Columbia coast and withdraw an agreement signed last week that clears a path for a new oil pipeline to the B.C. coast.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a memorandum of understanding on Nov. 27 to co-operate on energy, opening up the prospect of an exemption from the tanker ban to support the pipeline.
The ban was passed in legislation in 2019, putting legal teeth behind a non-binding moratorium that had been in place in the region since the 1970s. It bars oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of crude oil from stopping or unloading at ports from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border.
The issue was the first topic up for debate Tuesday at the Assembly of First Nations’ meeting in Ottawa, where hundreds of chiefs gathered to discuss issues affecting their communities.
Chief Donald Edgars of Old Massett Village in Haida Gwaii put forward the resolution calling on chiefs to affirm support for the oil tanker ban, and to support First Nations in B.C. in their opposition to a potential pipeline.
Edgars told his fellow chiefs a new pipeline to B.C.’s coast is “nothing but a pipe dream” and that passing his resolution would show Carney they are united in their opposition when he comes to address the group later Tuesday.
“We cannot let this happen,” Edgars told the chiefs.
“I call on all chiefs to reject this dangerous precedent. I ask the chiefs to stand in support of coastal First Nations who firmly reject any pipelines that propose running through our territories.
The resolution was seconded by B.C.-based Indigenous resource lawyer Merle Alexander, who said an oil spill would destroy the economic livelihood of the coast.
During her opening remarks to the gathering, AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak slammed Carney’s government over what she called its failure to consult meaningfully with First Nations and cuts to federal investments in First Nations communities.
Woodhouse Nepinak said First Nations will continue to protect their rights, in and outside of the courts.
Carney is set to address the hundreds of chiefs gathered in Ottawa for the three-day assembly on Tuesday afternoon.
Prime ministers and their cabinets traditionally attend the December AFN meeting to gauge the outlook of First Nations leadership and field chiefs’ questions and criticisms.
Woodhouse Nepinak told The Canadian Press Carney would be wise to come to the meeting with firm commitments to things the chiefs want, such as the clean drinking water legislation that died when the federal election was called earlier this year.
Some of the most prominent members of Carney’s cabinet will address the chiefs over the course of the three-day gathering: Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, National Defence Minister David McGuinty and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.
Hodgson found himself in hot water last week when he brushed off concerns from Coastal First Nations about failing to meet with them before the pipeline agreement was signed with Alberta.
“It’s called Zoom,” Hodgson quipped on CBC’s Power and Politics when asked about Coastal First Nations president Marilyn Slett’s inability to make the trip to Vancouver on short notice for a meeting.
He apologized for those remarks, saying on social media it was a “poor choice of words” and offering to meet with the First Nations “at their convenience.”
First Nations leaders have for months criticized the Carney government’s approach to First Nations, saying its actions signal a major shift in the tone of the relationship set by former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
They have accused his government of introducing legislation that affects them without their consent or co-operation as it seeks to remake the economy in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Woodhouse Nepinak acknowledged “Canada is going through challenging times” but insisted Carney won’t get the economic wins he wants by shutting First Nations out of the conversation.
“Canada can create all the MOUs, projects offices and advisory groups (it wants), but chiefs will be united — and are united — when it comes to the approval of projects on First Nations lands,” she said. “There will be no getting around rights-holders.”
4)National chief rips Carney government’s approach to consultation with First Nations
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Alessia Passafiume, Dec. 2, 2025.
National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak is slamming Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government over what she calls its failure to consult meaningfully with First Nations and cuts to federal investments in First Nations communities.
Speaking to the Assembly of First Nations’ December meeting today, Woodhouse Nepinak says First Nations will continue to protect their rights, in and outside of the courts.
This afternoon Carney will address hundreds of chiefs gathering in Ottawa for the three-day assembly.
Carney’s appearance before the chiefs comes just days after Ottawa signed a pipeline agreement with Alberta, which some First Nations leaders have condemned over environmental risks and a lack of consultation.
Prime ministers and their cabinets traditionally attend the December AFN meeting to gauge the outlook of First Nations leadership and field chiefs’ questions and criticisms.
Woodhouse Nepinak told The Canadian Press Carney would be wise to come to the meeting with firm commitments to things the chiefs want, such as the clean drinking water legislation that died when the federal election was called earlier this year.
5)Liberal MPs say party remains united after Guilbeault resigns from cabinet
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Catherine Morrison, November 28 2025
Several Liberal MPs say the party remains united after Culture Minister Steven Guilbeault resigned from cabinet in response to the federal government’s new pact with Alberta on a proposed pipeline.
In a social media post Thursday, Guilbeault said he submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Mark Carney that afternoon “with great sadness” — then spelled out his objections to the prime minister’s reversal of many of the key environmental decisions made by the previous Liberal government.
“Despite this difficult economic context, I remain one of those for whom environmental issues must remain front and centre,” he wrote. “That is why I strongly oppose the memorandum of understanding between the federal government and government of Alberta.”
Guilbeault said he intends to remain on as a Liberal MP but will no longer serve as Carney’s Quebec lieutenant. It’s not clear when a cabinet shuffle will take place.
Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said Guilbeault has an “impressive track record,” but he “respectfully” disagrees with his interpretation of the agreement signed with Alberta.
“I think it offers a number of pathways to major environmental advances in Western Canada, in Alberta notably,” MacKinnon said. “These include things like carbon capture, like a better spreading out of renewable energy across the Prairies through interconnects.”
Guilbeault made it clear that he was quitting cabinet over the pipeline deal and the government’s pullback from major federal climate policies.
“Finally, over the past few months, several elements of the climate action plan I worked on as minister of the environment have been, or are about to be, dismantled,” Guilbeault wrote.
MacKinnon said it’s “never easy to have disagreements,” but it’s part of belonging to a political party.
“Canada is in a period where we need to secure our economic future,” he said. “The developments today, those that have come before this and those that will follow will be squarely focused on securing our economic future.”
Liberal MP Rob Oliphant told reporters Thursday that Guilbeault has been a “formidable” cabinet minister.
Asked if his resignation hurts the prime minister’s credibility on the environment file, Oliphant said Carney is “maintaining the values we’ve always held while responding to a very, very difficult economic situation.”
Oliphant said he thinks “every single member” of the Liberal party has a deep concern for the environment and climate change, as well as a “strong and enduring desire” to have a profound Canadian economy.
“When I watch the prime minister walk into a caucus meeting or in the House of Commons, our caucus is solidly behind him,” he said.
Liberal MP Jaime Battiste said Guilbeault is a “very principled person.”
“While I would have liked to see him still there, he’s still part of the team and the team can disagree on things as we normally do in our caucus,” Battiste said. “I think we’re united in trying to have the best economy in the G7.”
Guilbeault was environment minister to former prime minister Justin Trudeau for years and served as the chief salesperson and defender of the contentious consumer carbon tax.
In a social media statement posted late Thursday, Carney said Guilbeault’s leadership on advancing sustainability has shaped a more hopeful future.
“As Prime Minister, I have been deeply grateful for his counsel and contributions to our new government, which shares his fundamental commitment to climate ambition and climate competitiveness for Canada,” Carney wrote.
“While we may have differing views at times on how exactly we make essential progress, I am glad Steven will continue to offer his important perspectives as a member of Parliament in our Liberal caucus.”