If there is one thing BC and Alberta can’t see eye to eye on, it’s oil pipelines. The incessant demands by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for another oil pipeline to the West Coast spells nothing but trouble for her BC counterpart, David Eby. 

Compared to folks on the Prairies, British Columbians aren’t keen on pipelines carrying heavy crude across their lands and rivers. They resent being asked to shoulder the risk posed by spills which have been ongoing since the mid-20th century when Canada’s pipeline buildout began. Nor do they like the idea of gargantuan oil tankers navigating tricky coastal passages; many still remember the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska which killed thousands of birds and marine mammals and decimated the region’s herring population.

These are sizable risks, and for what? As long ago as 2012, even BC’s centre-right, fossil fuel-friendly government under then-premier Christy Clark pointed out the inequities of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline’s risk/benefit equation. “Given that BC would shoulder 100 per cent of the marine risk and a significant portion of the land-based risk, we do not feel the current approach to sharing these benefits is appropriate,” said former environment minister Terry Lake at the time. 

Environmental concerns ultimately 

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