Haisla and Kitimat meet with Alberta premier as pipeline debate resurfaces

A recent meeting between B.C.’s Haisla Nation, the District of Kitimat and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has highlighted a key divide over oil export proposals on B.C.’s North Coast, as local leaders offered differing perspectives on the future of energy development in the region.

While both communities issued a joint statement emphasizing their shared success in developing large-scale resource projects, the Haisla Nation reaffirmed its opposition to oil pipelines and export facilities, while the District of Kitimat remained neutral on the issue. In an interview following the release, Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth said the District is not ruling out future proposals, including oil, if they align with environmental and community standards.

“I’m not going to say anything is off the table. I wouldn’t say no to anything until something is in front of us so we can see what it is,” Germuth said following the Nov. 25 meeting. “But if someone was to just dust off the old Northern Gateway [pipeline] and put that on the table, you’re probably going to get the same ‘no’ you had last time. But is there another way? I don’t know yet.”

Germuth added the meeting with Smith had been months in the making and was unrelated to Alberta’s current proposal or a pending memorandum of understanding with the federal government. He said the conversation focused on possible collaboration to get Alberta goods — such as food products, ammonia and potash — to tidewater via Kitimat, describing the meeting as a response to broader trade challenges, including tariffs imposed by the United States.

“It had nothing to do with the MOU,” Germuth said. “We didn’t really discuss any pipelines, but talked about everything else we might be able to do together.”

The Haisla Nation, meanwhile, used the opportunity to reiterate its longstanding opposition to any oil pipeline or export terminal in its territory — a stance first taken more than a decade ago during the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline debate.

That message was reinforced in a statement from the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, of which Haisla is a member.

“As the Rights and Title Holders of the Central and North Coast and Haida Gwaii, we are here to remind the Alberta government, the federal government, and any potential private proponent that we will never allow oil tankers on our coast, and that this pipeline project will never happen,” said Marilyn Slett, president of the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative and elected chief of the Heiltsuk Nation.

The joint statement from Haisla Nation and the District of Kitimat focused on their track record of supporting “nation-building” developments — including LNG Canada, Cedar LNG, Coastal GasLink and the Rio Tinto BC Works facility — and invited potential partners to bring forward projects that reflect the community’s values of “collaboration, environmental protection, and Indigenous leadership.”

But the statement also acknowledged a clear difference on oil development

“The Haisla Nation, who were firmly against [Northern Gateway] at that time, still maintain that same position today regarding an oil pipeline and export facility in their territory. This position was articulated clearly to Premier Smith during the meeting.”

Alberta’s renewed push to reach tidewater has added urgency to the discussion. Smith’s government recently submitted a pipeline proposal to the federal Major Projects Management Office, seeking to fast-track a project that would require expanded port facilities in either Kitimat or Prince Rupert — and a partial repeal of the federal Oil Tanker Moratorium Act (Bill C-48), which currently prohibits large crude oil tankers from B.C.’s North Coast.

Alberta has allocated $14 million for early-stage planning, including routing and engineering, but has said a private-sector partner would need to take over construction and operation. The province is positioning the project as a national economic priority to reduce Canada’s reliance on U.S. markets and open access to global buyers.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to travel to Calgary tomorrow, Nov. 27, which is fueling speculation that he will announce a formal agreement on the proposed MOU with Alberta. The B.C. government has said it remains in the dark about the document’s details and has criticized the federal process for excluding affected communities.

Premier David Eby has previously dismissed the Alberta proposal as lacking a route, a partner, or local legitimacy. He called it “not a real project” and said it raises serious concerns around Indigenous rights and environmental protections.

For many on the B.C. coast, the situation recalls the Northern Gateway pipeline — a proposal to transport 525,000 barrels of diluted bitumen per day from Bruderheim, Alberta, to a new marine terminal in Kitimat. That project was overturned in 2016 after the Federal Court of Appeal found Indigenous communities had not been adequately consulted.

A plebiscite held in Kitimat in 2014 resulted in a majority of voters opposing Northern Gateway, and the debate at the time deeply divided the community. Online forums suggest those divisions are resurfacing as speculation grows around the Alberta-Ottawa MOU.

Despite leaving the door open, Germuth said any future proposal would need to meet strict environmental criteria and offer clear local benefits.

“We’re as concerned and protective of our environment as anyone else,” he said. “There would have to be something in there [a proposal] that would bring us from the previous ‘no’ to something we could say yes to. But what is that? I don’t know.”