Will It Be a Pipe or a Pipe Dream?

Sarah Eng Bachrich
Dec 19, 2025
3 min read

In 2021, Mark Carney published his book Value(s), which includes the following passage:

Efforts to address climate change have been a struggle between urgency and complacency. The urgency of carbon budgets that could be consumed within a decade. The complacency of adding to the committed carbon in our cars, homes, machines and power plants when those already in place will, over their useful lives, exhaust those carbon budgets. The urgency of the looming Sixth Mass Extinction. The complacency of not valuing the loss of individual species and the destruction of entire habitats. (p. 264)

Since then, much has happened.

Since 2022, Alberta premiere Danielle Smith has been using coded language supported by tangible actions, including passing the Sovereignty Act and the Election Statutes Amendment Act (making it easier for Albertans to have a referendum on sovereignty), to suggest the possibility that Alberta may separate to some degree from Canada if the federal government does not support expanded oil and gas industry. Although Smith has stated repeatedly that she “does not support Alberta separating from Canada”, she also stated in May that “if there is a successful citizen-led referendum petition that is able to gather the requisite number of signatures requesting such a question to be put on a referendum, our government will respect the democratic process and include that question on the 2026 provincial referendum ballot, as well.” It seems as if Smith does not want to be responsible for Albertan sovereignty separation from Canada, but simultaneously seeks to retain the votes of her conservative base who desire that very outcome.

Fast forward to Thursday, November 27th 2025, Mark Carney and Danielle Smith attended a ceremony in Calgary where they signed the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), in which they agreed to investigate the possibility of building a new oil pipeline from Alberta to the northern coast of BC. The MOU’s signing was not a final decision to start building a pipeline, but rather an agreement to consider the possibility of its construction many years away. However, if this pipeline were in fact to be built, its environmental impact could range from significant to catastrophic in the event of a tanker crash and oil spill, which experts agree to be reasonably likely.

Indigenous communities have rallied to oppose the agreement, the pipeline, and any new tanker traffic throughout the north coast and Hecate Strait. If the project were to go ahead as described, it would risk trampling Indigenous rights and Canada’s commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).

According to Maureen Nyce, Elected Chief of the Haisla First Nation, “Much of our sustainability is actually from the water; that’s our bread basket… they haven’t been able to ensure that spills won’t happen, and when they do they’re devastating to the aquatic life.”

A possible reason why Carney signed the MOU is not to ultimately construct the pipeline, but to placate Smith and her supporters. However, the Prime Minister’s decision directly contradicts his previously stated intentions to prioritize the environment. Ultimately, the construction of the pipeline could prove environmentally disastrous and a violation of the rights of Indigenous communities. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), referred to the signing of the MOU as “deeply irresponsible” and “for political convenience.”

Works Referenced