Carney, Smith Set to Reveal Next Step for Controversial West Coast Pipeline

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith are set to make an announcement in Fort McMurray, Alberta, regarding a major infrastructure project. The pipeline deadline is today, October 1, with Ottawa's deadline to officially designate a proposed West Coast pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia's south coast as a project of national interest.

The proposed pipeline would be owned by Trans Mountain, the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission, and Pembina Pipeline Corp., with Trans Mountain responsible for planning and construction. The 1,250-kilometre route would carry upwards of one million barrels of crude oil from Bruderheim, Alta. near Edmonton to a port south of Vancouver, B.C.

The pipeline is estimated to cost between $35.2 billion and $43.7 billion, according to the project submission package. It has been a central component of an energy agreement between the federal and Alberta governments, with Smith stating that Carney has acted constructively in coming up with an Alberta-Ottawa energy agreement.