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, 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.
WATCH | The Power Panel breaks down the pipeline motion:
Poilievre says Conservative pipeline motion forces ‘Liberals to put up or shut up’
MPs are set to debate a Conservative motion on whether they support the construction of a bitumen pipeline to the B.C. coast and adjustments to the tanker ban Tuesday. The Power Panel breaks down the political strategy at play.
Speaking in the House of Commons Tuesday, Poilievre said his motion, which he later amended to include a reference to working with Indigenous peoples and B.C., uses “wording right out of the prime minister’s MOU to make it easy for him” to vote yes. He said the government is making “excuses” to vote against the motion and appease anti-pipeline members of the 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 Smith agreed to address, 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.
While some Liberal MPs like Steven Guilbeault and Patrick Weiler have expressed concern about what Carney has agreed to — framing the MOU as an assault on the country’s climate goals — Hodgson insisted “the caucus is supportive of the entire MOU.”
Hodgson said developing Canada’s natural resources is the best card the country can play while it grapples with a U.S. trade war that has already caused job losses, plant closures and economic uncertainty.
“We have some fantastic cards,” 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.
WATCH | Conservatives plan House vote to test pipeline support among Liberals:
Conservatives plan House vote to test pipeline support among Liberals
The Conservatives are planning to introduce a motion on Tuesday that would force the House of Commons to vote on whether they support the Ottawa-Alberta pipeline agreement. Pierre Poilievre says detractors in the Liberal government would undermine the party’s commitment to the plan.
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.
Even after Poilievre moved to amend the motion to include a reference to the MOU’s language about carbon capture, Indigenous co-ownership and working with B.C. to get the project done — the Liberals signalled they would vote against it because it failed to mention the environmental-related aspects of the “grand bargain” Carney reached with Smith, including the higher industrial carbon tax designed to lower oilpatch emissions.
“Pierre Poilievre is not acting as a serious leader,” said 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.
WATCH | Minister calls motion a ‘waste of parliamentary time’:
Indigenous services minister calls Conservative pipeline motion ‘immature waste of parliamentary time’
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, speaking Tuesday ahead of a vote on a Conservative motion that declares support for a new oil pipeline to B.C., says that the Conservative motion is ‘clearly an insult towards Indigenous peoples,’ because it leaves out some important language found in a memorandum of understanding between Ottawa and Alberta relating to First Nations, Métis and Inuit.
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.
“Make no mistake, this government supports the ability for a pipeline to be built by a private proponent with the support and consultation with the Indigenous people who are affected,” added Liberal MP Kody Blois, the parliamentary secretary to Carney.
WATCH | ‘This game-playing is ridiculous’ says Alberta Liberal MP:
‘This game-playing is ridiculous’ says Alberta Liberal MP on Opposition pipeline motion
Liberal Alberta MP Corey Hogan said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is ‘not acting as a serious leader’ as the Opposition party tabled a motion on Tuesday calling for MPs to support pipelines built from Alberta to B.C. Hogan said the motion is ‘designed to be a trap’ for Liberals.
Still, the Conservatives said the Liberal decision to vote against this motion leaves Canadians uncertain about the government’s commitment to a pipeline.
Conservative MP Ellis Ross, himself a First Nations leader from the Haisla Nation in B.C., accused the Liberals of saying one thing in B.C. and another in Alberta. For example, some Liberal MPs have said affected First Nations and B.C. must “consent” before the project gets the greenlight — language that is not included in the MOU.
“Canadians deserve an answer — yes or no,” Ross said of a pipeline decision.
“This is the first opportunity for the Liberals to tell the truth about their intentions to build Canada strong, to turn us into an energy superpower,” he said. “It depends on what audience sits in front of the prime minister.”
Carney’s MOU with Smith lays out a path forward for a bitumen pipeline to the coast.
The agreement stresses that this pipeline will be privately constructed and financed — unlike the publicly owned Trans Mountain — and the intention is to have some Indigenous co-ownership.
Ottawa is prepared to designate this pipeline a project of “national interest,” which triggers powers under the Building Canada Act which Carney’s government passed in June.
That designation means the pipeline — and possibly the tankers associated with transporting the oil — could be exempted from some federal laws.
Once some Indigenous consultation and negotiations with B.C. take place, Alberta, as the current proponent of this pipeline, will present its plan for the pipeline to the Major Projects Office (MPO) for expedited review by July 1.
According to Alberta officials, the intention is to get shovels in the ground on this project by 2029.
“We will build big, we will build fast, we will build bold again. We used to take risks in this country. We will step up to the plate again,” Carney said in announcing the MOU.
