Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was in Ottawa on Tuesday, advocating directly to the federal government for a new pipeline to B.C.’s coast.
The project would require the removal of the current tanker ban and still has no private sector funding and no approved route.
“The oil sand companies need to have confidence they can move the product and because of the tanker ban, they do not have that confidence. That’s why we have to deal with those as a package,” Smith said.
B.C. Premier David Eby continued his war of words, however, saying Smith’s rhetoric around the pipeline without First Nation approval is jeopardizing funded projects along the coast.
“If you say we will come after your way of life and get rid of the tanker ban, let’s actually talk about projects that exist,” Eby said.
Smith called Eby’s comments “un-Canadian and unconstitutional.”
In Ottawa, Eby is demanding that British Columbia get the same treatment Alberta is pushing for.
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“It’s not the Danielle Smith show, it’s Team Canada and we all deserve the same treatment for the same federal money,” Eby said.
“That is not un-Canadian, that is fair.”
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe threw his support behind Smith in the spat, saying there is no B.C. coast, it’s “Canada’s coast.”
BC Conservative Leader John Rustad is also taking Smith’s side, saying the B.C. government is putting Canada’s economy at risk by not making it easier to get oil to markets outside of the United States.
“Right now we are selling our oil at a discount to the United States and I thought we were supposed to have our elbows up,” Rustad said.
Elbows, for both Eby and Smith, are also now facing directly across the Rocky Mountains.
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