Photo of Grand Chief Stewart Philip by the Okanagan Nation Alliance.
On October 1, CBC News reported: “A proposed pipeline carrying one million barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the B.C. coast has become the first project designated in the national interest, the federal and Alberta governments have announced.”
The project, the Pacific Link pipeline, formerly known s the West Coast pipeline, was listed on Schedule 1 of the Building Canada Act (that was enacted as part of the Carney government’s Bill C-5).
CTV News added: “The designation is meant to speed up the process of building the pipeline, with both the premier and prime minister setting a September 2027 timeline for construction to get underway.”
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) opposes this pipeline that could affect more than 130 Indigenous communities.
UBCIC president Grand Chief Stewart Phillip has stated: “We have a duty and an obligation to protect our rights to the fullest extent of the law and we have every intention of doing that. This is not a cake walk, this is not a ‘gimme’, this will be hard-fought in the court rooms, and if necessary, with boots on the ground.”
APTN News further reports: “Prime Minister Mark Carney promised his major projects agenda would not interfere with the Canada’s obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.” But Grand Chief Philip reiterates: “We demand that the legal principle of ‘free, prior, informed consent’ enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act be fully engaged in ‘all’ fast-tracked projects sponsored by the Major Projects Office.”
The Canadian Press reports: “Indigenous communities along the route for the newly announced West Coast oil pipeline were given just two months for consultations on whether the pipeline should be designated a project of national interest — and that was still more than the government had planned. At first, the consultations were to take place over one month. …Despite the compressed timeline, the federal document says the Major Projects Office is satisfied that it has provided a meaningful opportunity for consultations, and that further questions can be addressed as they arise.”
We continue to follow this.
Further reading: UBCIC Rejects “National Interest” Designation for Toxic West Coast Oil “Pacific Link” Pipeline (October 1, 2026).
