Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s stance on building new pipelines has drawn criticism from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who has questioned his commitment to making Canada more energy independent in the face of U.S. tariffs.
“Does he want Canada to be strong, prosperous and independent or not?” Smith said in an April 14 social media post.
Smith was reacting to comments made by Carney when he appeared on Radio-Canada’s TV show “Tout le monde en parle” over the weekend. Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre were interviewed separately for the occasion, a few days before they will meet at the leaders’ debates in Montreal.
“We have to choose a few projects, a few big projects, not necessarily pipelines, but maybe pipelines, we’ll see,” Carney said in French on the program.
Smith said this stance is the “exact opposite” of what he had said when he visited Alberta a few weeks ago.
Carney did a campaign stop last week in Calgary, in Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta, and said he and other provincial premiers including Smith had agreed to fast-track and build energy corridors across the country.
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“I’m focused on getting things done in conventional as well as clean [energy],” Carney said on April 9. He released his plan on the same day to make Canada an “energy superpower,” focused almost entirely on building the “clean energy” supply chain by exploiting critical minerals and fast-tracking “clean energy projects.”
There is no mention of building pipelines in the plan, only the development of an “energy corridor” and an “East-West electricity grid.”
“So it would appear [Mark Carney] is now just fine with Canada continuing to be 100% reliant on the United States to purchase all of our oil and gas, and to purchase all of the fuel used by Ontario and Quebec from the U.S. through Line 5,” Smith said in further reaction to Carney’s comments on Radio-Canada. “This is absurd, irrational, and anti-Canadian in every respect.”
Carney has been a strong advocate of climate policies, such as reaching net-zero emissions. He organized major financial institutions into an alliance to make low-carbon investment decisions before entering politics. The alliance began unravelling after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump and the exit of U.S. banks. Major Canadian banks followed shortly thereafter.
Since entering politics, Carney has said he is a “pragmatist” and has pledged to strengthen Canada’s economy as it faces turmoil from U.S. tariffs.
He has remained committed to key policies of predecessor Justin Trudeau, such as Bill C-69 on impact assessments for infrastructure projects, but has also distanced himself by immediately reducing the consumer carbon tax rate to zero upon assuming office.
Carney has pledged to establish a new office to approve clean energy projects quickly by conducting a single review, saying this would cut decision time in Ottawa from five years to two.
Poilievre has said he would repeal Bill C-69 and expand domestic pipeline networks to supply Canada and help with exports to other markets. In reaction to Carney’s comments on Radio-Canada, Poilievre said the Liberal leader is “100% wrong” and that pipelines “absolutely” need to be prioritized.
Poilievre has pledged during the campaign to create a pre-approved transport corridor to fast-track the construction of new pipelines, transmission lines, railways, and other critical infrastructure across the country.
Canada is the world’s fifth-largest crude oil producer and currently sells 90 percent of its production to the United States.
At the same time, the cost of moving western oil to the east, as well the set up of Canadian refineries to process different crude qualities, makes it more economical for some refineries to import oil from abroad. Main suppliers have been the United States, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia.
