The Canadian government is moving forward with the process to label a planned oil pipeline to the Western Coast as a project of “national interest.”
When a project is deemed to be of national interest under the Building Canada Act, it enables the government to speed up approvals and bypass certain environmental regulations.
A call for feedback regarding the national interest classification was issued in the Canada Gazette on August 1, with a deadline of September 18 for public input.
According to the government’s announcement, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc will collaborate with the Alberta and British Columbia administrations, as discussions with Indigenous groups are ongoing.
The proposed pipeline plays a significant role in an energy deal between the federal government and Alberta.
This approximately 1,250-kilometer pipeline is designed to transport over one million barrels of crude oil from Bruderheim, Alberta to a harbor close to Delta, British Columbia, for export to global markets.