BREAKING: Guilbeault reflecting on future as Carney inks deal considering 'adjustment' to oil tanker ban for new Alberta pipeline

OTTAWA — As Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith inked a new energy and pipeline pact on Thursday, a government source close to Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault, a former environment minister, says he is reflecting on his future.

Guilbeault, who currently holds the portfolio of Canadian Identity and Culture, is a long-time climate activist and the source said he will be taking the time to read his government’s new pact with Alberta in detail before making a decision.

The deal Carney inked with Smith on Thursday in Alberta sees his government agree to suspend clean electricity regulations in the province and commit to consider making an “adjustment” to the federal oil tanker ban off British Columbia’s coast to pave the way for construction of a new oil pipeline.

The concessions from the federal government come in exchange for Alberta strengthening its industrial carbon price.

The commitments, formally outlined in a memorandum of understanding between Carney and Smith, outline the terms of how jurisdictions will work together on energy.

Before the official signing, Carney appeared alongside Smith for a sit-down, where both leaders delivered some opening remarks, with the prime minister calling Thursday “a great day for Canada” as well as a “great day for Alberta.”

Carney touted the deal as a “multifaceted agreement,” saying it sets the stage for an energy transition, “but really sets the stage for an industrial transformation.”

“At the core of the agreement, of course, it’s a priority to have a pipeline to Asia. That’s going to make Canada stronger, more independent, more resilient, more sustainable,” Carney said.

As Carney spent the past few days preparing to ink the new energy pact with Alberta, he has been dealing with some restlessness with his caucus, particularly among his more progressive Liberal MPs and those in B.C.

The source close to Guilbeault, speaking on a not-for-attribution basis because they were not authorized to discuss these matters publicly, said he believes he can be more useful to the climate cause and to Canada by sitting around the cabinet table than stepping down.

“He’s ready to make a lot of compromises,” said the source. “That remains true even today, even when it is more difficult.”

“He wants to be sure to make the right decision,” they added.

Guilbeault had a “long” and “candid” conversation with Carney on Tuesday, according to the source who could not disclose the contents of the conversation.

The document signing has been touted as an important step by both Alberta and Carney’s government to help transform Canada into a “global energy superpower,” as the prime minister promised during the spring federal election campaign. The deal also outlines how both Alberta and Canada “remain committed” to achieving net-zero emissions by 2025.

To do so, the deal spells out a series of projects both jurisdictions agree to collaborate on, including “construction of one or more private sector constructed and financed pipelines,” that would carry “one million barrels a day of low-emission Alberta bitumen” to Asian markets.

It clarifies that the new pipeline project would be in addition to the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

The deal also links a new bitumen pipeline from Alberta to the advancement of a massive carbon capture and storage project in the province, a project Carney and Smith commit to negotiating a trilateral agreement on with the oilsands partner behind the proposal.

In terms of commitments, Smith signed on to work with Ottawa on negotiating a new industrial carbon pricing agreement before April 1, 2026, which would then formalize the suspension of the clean electricity regulations.

The deal spells out that Ottawa would immediately suspend the regulations in exchange for Alberta hiking its industrial carbon price, which it froze earlier this year.

The document also commits Alberta and Ottawa to negotiate on a new methane equivalency agreement before April 2026, which would set a target of reducing methane emissions by 75 per cent below 2014 levels by 2035.

When it comes to the pipeline proposal, which was Smith’s top priority entering into the negotiations, the new deal spells out that her United Conservative Party government would submit a proposal to the federal major projects office by July 1.

Carney committed his government to declaring that the pipeline proposal was a nation-building project, and if ultimately approved under a special cabinet designation, his government “would enable the export of bitumen from a strategic deep-water port to Asian markets, including if necessary through an appropriate adjustment to the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act.

More to come …

National Post

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