Smith Hails Quebec’s Warming to Pipeline Projects as a ‘Massive Breakthrough’

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivers a speech at an event in Ottawa on April 12, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby); (Right) Quebec Premier Francois Legault speaks at a news conference in Quebec City on Sept. 12, 2024. The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Quebec’s stance on pipelines may be changing, noting that Quebec Premier François Legault is showing greater willingness to pursue development projects in his province.

Smith discussed Legault’s shift in perspective during her weekend morning radio show, “Your Province. Your Premier.,” noting that she has been lobbying the Quebec premier to advance the development of natural gas resources in his province.

“I’ve been very annoying for Premier Legault, because I told him every time I saw him, I was going to lobby him on developing their own substantial natural gas resources,” Smith said during the May 17 show. “And every time I saw him, he said there’s no social acceptability for it, until recently.”

Smith’s comments follow a recent appearance made by Legault on the podcast Contact, hosted by Stéphan Bureau. Legault said there is a growing openness among Quebecers for pipeline projects because of the trade tensions with the United States that intensified when President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian goods.

“Quebecers are saying, ‘There’s no way Trump is going to control the oil we produce in Alberta.’ So, can we export it to Europe through Quebec instead of being stuck with Trump?” the premier said. “There’s openness. I feel things are shifting.”

He also referred to a prospective project that would extend through the northern region of the province and end at the Port of Sept-Îles.

Legault’s comments were welcomed by Smith, who has long been advocating for a coast-to-coast pipeline network to carry Canadian natural gas and oil to markets outside the United States.

Smith called his remarks a “massive breakthrough,” saying several factors could have influenced Legault, including the global perception of natural gas and international demand.

“I think there is a world understanding that natural gas is an important transition fuel. I think it’s a destination fuel, personally, but when you use natural gas, it means you’re not using other high-emitting fuels like coal and wood,” Smith said.

“The high demand in Europe, when you think of the proximity for Quebec, if they develop their resources, work with Nova Scotia and we’re able to export to Europe, that helps our allies there,” she added.

Smith said it makes sense for the province to consider a pipeline in northern Quebec because “it’s a little bit more complicated to build these big projects through big cities like Montreal.”

Quebec has long voiced anti-pipeline sentiments and rejected the GNL Québec project in Saguenay in 2021. Ottawa followed suit, rejecting the project in 2022. The Energy East project, which aimed to transport oil from Alberta to New Brunswick, was cancelled in 2017, in part due to a lack of support from both Quebec and Ottawa.

Pipeline Opinions

Prime Minister Mark Carney stated in an interview last week that he’s open to the construction of additional pipelines, contingent upon widespread national support. But he also said that exporting oil and gas alone is not enough to make the country an energy powerhouse, and that the country must also invest in “alternative” energies such as carbon capture and storage.

Former Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault questioned the need for a new pipeline last week, saying the country should fully utilize its current infrastructure for energy product transportation before talking about additional pipelines.

Guilbeault, who now holds the heritage portfolio, said during a May 14 press scrum that Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline is running at only 40 percent capacity. The Trans Mountain Pipeline transports crude oil and refined petroleum products from Edmonton to the West Coast.

“I think before we start talking about building an entire new pipeline, maybe we should maximize the use of existing infrastructure,” said Guilbeault. “Right now, there are no companies that are saying that they want to build an East-West pipeline. And as you know, these things are built by companies, not government.”

Smith issued a statement on May 14 to challenge Guilbeault’s comments, saying that Trans Mountain is “already close to capacity.” Smith asked Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin in her statement to “disavow” Guilbeault’s comments and “commit to working with Alberta to build new pipelines to access new markets.”

Smith said while Guilbeault’s pipeline remarks are a major concern, of equal concern was Carney’s pick of Dabrusin as the new environment minister who Smith has previously described as being “anti-oil and gas.”

Smith was more complimentary of Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, whom she said has “been very well received by the industry.”

“I’m trying to figure out which voice in caucus is going to be the one that prevails,” she said during the radio show. “Is it going to be the voice that has prevailed over the last 10 years, which is the ‘keep it in the ground’ voice, or is it going to be the understanding that energy can that Canada really can be an energy and economic superpower, but we’ve got to build things?”

Smith has demanded changes on the environment file from Carney’s government, which includes unimpeded pipeline access to Canada’s coastlines. She says Alberta, especially its oil and gas sector, has been stifled over the past decade due to the federal Liberals’ anti-business policies and regulations.

Her list of demands for Ottawa also include repealing the Impact Assessment Act, lifting the “tanker ban” from the B.C. coast, scrapping the clean electricity regulations, and ending the prohibition on single use plastics.

She said failure by the government to address the demands would result in an “unprecedented national unity crisis” for Canada.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.