Some B.C. Liberal MPs concerned about prospect of a new oil pipeline: sources

With Prime Minister Mark Carney poised to sign a "grand bargain" with Alberta later this week, some B.C. Liberal MPs are raising concerns about Ottawa possibly giving the green light to a new oil pipeline to the Pacific, sources say.

Liberal MPs told CBC News that they have not been fully briefed on the forthcoming memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith — which is due to be signed Thursday in Calgary — and there is some anxiety within caucus that Carney could back a pipeline to northwest B.C. even though that province's premier and some Indigenous communities are strenuously opposed.

One MP said some Liberals are "seething" and "angry" while another said Carney will be facing a restless caucus soon if he cuts a deal with Smith that includes a pipeline with few strings attached.

Some MPs feel they risk letting down their climate-minded, pipeline-skeptic constituents if something like this goes ahead, one said.

The MPs spoke to CBC News on the condition that they not be named.

It's in this context that Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson will brief B.C. Liberal MPs Wednesday morning about what's to come and try to assuage some concerns, a government source said.

Facing questions from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre about whether the government will ever really get a new pipeline built, Carney said in question period the deal with Alberta isn't the final word.

"We believe in co-operative federalism. We believe the government of B.C. has to agree, we believe that First Nations rights holders have to agree and support — all stakeholders have to agree," Carney said.

Nova Scotia Liberal MP Darren Fisher told reporters on Tuesday he's "never been a huge pipeline guy." Another Liberal, B.C. MP Gurbux Saini, said the pipeline must have affected Indigenous peoples and B.C. Premier David Eby's "consent" before any shovels hit the ground.

He said Eby, who has not been at the table for these bilateral MOU talks with Alberta, "should be at all of these discussions."

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, a longtime pipeline foe, said the Liberals could face some electoral consequences if a new oil pipeline gets built.

"The Liberal backbenchers should be really worried. They'll lose their seats," she said, although some polls suggest a majority of British Columbians actually support building a pipeline like this.

B.C. Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson, a former environment minister, said his anxious colleagues need to "take a bit of a step back" and "take a breath" before jumping to any negative conclusions about an MOU that hasn't been made public.

"Let's see what the MOU says when it actually comes out," Wilkinson said in an interview with CBC's Power & Politics, adding he is "confident" Carney will abide by his commitment that any major project like this needs "significant" buy-in from Indigenous communities and the affected provinces before anything goes ahead.