Carney to announce “major projects” in Prince Rupert: Will it be a pipeline?

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to announce the next round of major projects deemed vital for Canada on Thursday in Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to announce the next round of major projects deemed vital for Canada on Thursday in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. However, he’s keeping tight-lipped on whether Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s proposed West Coast pipeline will make the cut.

When asked what major projects would be announced as part of the “second wave,” Carney said Canadians would have to wait until Thursday.

“The next round of major projects is going to be announced later this week,” he said during a press conference in Fredericton on Monday.

“You can come to Prince Rupert (B.C.) and be the first to hear,” Carney joked with the reporter who asked the question.

The Prince Rupert announcement location has sparked questions, given the B.C. government recently approved continued construction of a new liquid natural gas pipeline project there.

That pipeline, part of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project, is a joint venture between the Nisga’a Nation and Texas-based Western LNG. It may lead to natural gas exports to a proposed floating LNG export terminal off B.C.’s North Coast.

Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she’s “still working” with the Carney government to establish a memorandum of understanding for a bitumen pipeline from her province to the northwest B.C. coastline to facilitate growing Asian market demand.

She also said she’s been working with the federal government on the “pathways project” and hopes to get some of the “nine bad laws” removed to “allow that investment to occur.”

The “nine bad laws,” Smith mentioned, refers to a list of federal policies that have kept Alberta’s energy sector stagnant, including the oil and gas emissions cap, net-zero electricity regulations, the West Coast tanker ban and the impact of Bill C-69.

“I hope to have more to say next week, before the Grey Cup,” Smith told reporters on Friday.

When last asked about whether Canada was going to get a pipeline while in Toronto on Friday, Carney dismissed the subject as “boring.”

The prime minister appeared to mock Canadians’ concerns about new oil infrastructure while championing data centres and tech as the future of Canada’s economy.

“Don’t worry, we’re on the pipeline stuff. Danielle’s on line one. Don’t worry, it’s going to happen — well, something’s going to happen,” said Carney.

Carney went on to claim that AI infrastructure would have a bigger impact on Canada’s productivity.

“It’s an easy conversation to have about a pipeline, because it’s one thing we can see, but the reality is that there’s much, much more to the Canadian economy, and there’s much, much more to the future of the Canadian economy. And so we’re attacking it on all sides,” he said.