Ottawa and Alberta have signed a sweeping energy accord that backs a new one-million-barrel-per-day bitumen pipeline to BC’s coast with Indigenous co-ownership, alongside a federal commitment to suspend Alberta’s clean electricity rules and abandon the national oil and gas emissions cap. In return, Alberta will raise its industrial carbon price to $130 per tonne and work with Ottawa on methane reductions and the Pathways carbon-capture initiative by April. The deal would require adjustments to the federal tanker ban and immediate engagement with British Columbia, whose premier opposes a new pipeline. Indigenous responses remain mixed, with several coastal nations firmly rejecting any changes to the tanker ban. The agreement, framed as positioning Canada as a global energy superpower, is already sparking internal tensions within the federal Liberal caucus over its climate implications.
