NDP statement on West Coast pipeline designation

NDP statement on West Coast pipeline designation

NDP Leader Avi Lewis issued the following reaction, after an announcement by Prime Minister Carney that an oil pipeline to the West Coast will be designated as a project of national interest under the Building Canada Act:

"The Liberal government is rushing through an oil pipeline to the West Coast as a project of 'national interest', the first project to receive this designation since the Major Projects Office opened its doors a year ago.

But throwing billions in public money behind a pipeline at a time of climate breakdown - while sweeping aside environmental protections, meaningful Indigenous consultation and workers' right to strike - is absolutely not in the national interest.

It is an offence to Canadian science, public health, collective safety, and common sense. And it is a gift to an oil industry already on track to make $100 billion in wartime profits this year alone.

This project leaves Canadians bearing all the risks of a bad investment without any of the rewards.

The industry itself is unwilling to finance this project. Indigenous nations have expressed opposition. And the environmental and climate consequences are extreme, including the threat to endangered Southern Resident orcas. This is a pipeline to the courts, and it's not worth the risk.

Projects that truly serve the national interest would lower costs, create good jobs, and protect the people and places we love - like renewable energy projects, 21st-century public transit systems to connect our communities, and a massive build-out of non-market housing Canadians can actually afford."