Canadian PM Carney signs deal with Alberta on new oil pipeline to Asia

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has signed an agreement with Alberta that clears the way for a new oil pipeline from the Canadian province to the Pacific Ocean, with the aim of boosting oil exports to Asia. The project aligns with Carney’s goal of expanding foreign trade to offset damage caused by tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. However, the deal immediately raised concerns about Ottawa’s commitment to fighting climate change, AFP reports.

"The core of the agreement is, of course, the priority of building a pipeline to Asia," Carney said on Thursday before signing the deal alongside Alberta’s conservative premier, Danielle Smith.

In addition to expanding exports, the plan includes an overall increase in oil and natural gas production in the province.

According to AFP, the deal marks a major shift for Carney’s Liberal Party from the policies that defined the nearly decade-long tenure of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Under the energy agreement, the proposed pipeline in Alberta will be exempt from some federal climate laws, including a ban on tanker traffic off the coast of British Columbia, the BBC reports. The deal also refers to suspending the federal emissions cap for oil and natural gas.

Culture Minister Stephen Guilbeault, who served as environment minister under Carney’s predecessor, Trudeau, resigned from his post in protest over the deal just hours after it was signed. "I entered politics to advance the fight against climate change," Guilbeault said in a statement. He added that he strongly opposes the deal because it will take Canada further away from its greenhouse gas reduction targets. Guilbeault was behind a number of climate policy measures under the Trudeau government. He says those measures are now being dismantled.

Smith, who accused the previous Liberal Party government of suppressing Alberta’s economic potential, took a swipe at Trudeau on Thursday, according to AFP. "The last ten years have been an extremely difficult period," the provincial premier said.

In return for exemptions from climate laws, Alberta must increase carbon charges and develop the world’s largest carbon capture programme in an effort to reduce its overall emissions. The agreement also stipulates that the pipeline must be co-owned by Indigenous people and funded by a private company, not through taxes.