Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has accused federal minister Steven Guilbeault of deceiving Canadians about pipelines.
She said the former environment minister, now in charge of what Ottawa is calling “Canadian identity and culture” as well as official languages, was “destructive” to the economies of both Canada and Alberta.
Her remarks came after Guilbeault was asked in Parliament today about the Carney government’s commitment to expanding Canada’s natural resources sector.
Guildbeault said “people should remember that we bought a pipeline, Trans Mountain, and that is only used right now [at] about 40 per cent capacity.”
He added: “So I think before we start talking about building an entire new pipeline, maybe we should maximize the use of existing infrastructure.”
Guilbeault also said energy regulators at home and abroad have predicted that peak oil demand will come in both Canada and around the world by 2028 or 2029.
Smith, in a post on X, disagreed, arguing that “most estimates of demand for bitumen shows it growing for several more decades and that it will be needed to replace declining US conventional oil fields.”
She added: “The facts are that TMX, which just opened and would have been built entirely with private dollars if Ottawa hadn’t made it impossible for the original proponent to build it, is already close to capacity.”
The premier went on: “This is just another example of how misleading and destructive this former environment minister was to Alberta’s and Canada’s economy and investment climate.”
Smith is now asking that Guilbeault’s successor on the environment file, Julie Dabrusin, “disavow” the comments and instead “commit to working with Alberta to build new pipelines to access new markets.” She expressed dissatisfaction with Dabrusin's appointment on Tuesday.
Smith has previously warned that Alberta will no longer tolerate the “status quo” from Ottawa, which she characterizes as being hostile to the province’s oil industry.
She has drawn that line in the sand within the context of the prospect that a referendum on Alberta independence could be held in the coming years.
Mark Carney, meanwhile, told CTV in an interview on Tuesday that he was still committed to making Canada a “superpower” in both conventional and renewable energy.
That could mean more pipelines, he said, and more exports of oil overseas.
The International Energy Agency, cited by Guilbeault, has predicted peak demand in oil by 2029, but in a statement issued in April indicated a slowdown in demand that could delay the peak.
Oil cartel OPEC, meanwhile, reckons oil demand will peak by 2045, while Carney’s former employer, Goldman Sachs, has predicted a peak in 2034 that could extend through till 2040.
The US Energy Information Administration thinks oil demand will continue to grow until 2050 as developing countries consume more energy.
As for the claims about TMX's capacity, according to the most recent update from the Canada Energy Regulator, the pipeline has a capacity of 890,000 barrels per day.
Oil Sands Magazine, citing Bloomberg, reported earlier this year that the pipeline was pumping about 720,000 barrels a day.
That would mean TMX is operating at about 80 per cent capacity.
