British Columbia’s incoming Conservative premier is already showing signs he may not follow the same policies proposed by federal Conservatives, with his lukewarm response to their proposed tanker ban reversal. On Tuesday, leader Pierre Poilivre repeatedly stood in the House of Commons to urge Mark Carney’s Liberal government to reverse the moratorium on the ships off B.C.’s north coast to allow a Calgary-based company to ship their crude oil to Asia after transporting it to Prince Rupert via rail. “The Liberal tanker ban is a gigantic, multi-billion-dollar gift to Donald Trump’s America,” said Poilievre, referencing the preferential pricing the U.S. gets for buying most of Canada’s oil exports. Carney’s natural resources minister rejected the taunts and demands in parliament, suggesting the Conservatives instead support the Pacific Link pipeline the Liberals are fast-tracking from Alberta to B.C.’s south coast. The premier-designate echoed that sentiment in an email statement sent in response to a CTV News inquiry about his position on the idea of lifting the northern tanker ban. “Our government’s focus is on the project in front of us,” wrote Lorne Doerkson, noting that debate belongs in Ottawa. “Pacific Link has been declared in the national interest, it takes a southern route, and it will create good jobs across British Columbia.” The tanker-ban legislation was implemented in 2019 under Justin Trudeau’s administration to protect the region from the risk of oil spills, and Carney affirmed his commitment to the moratorium in July. “I don’t accept that we have to choose between protecting our coast and building our economy,” Doerkson went on to write. “British Columbia will do both.” A private members’ bill by the Conservatives seeking to revoke the ban will go up for a vote on Wednesday and is expected to fail under the Liberals’ majority control of the house.
