British Columbia Minute: Issue 119

British Columbia Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of British Columbia politics.

📅 This Week In British Columbia: 📅

• British Columbia and the federal government have unveiled a multibillion-dollar memorandum of understanding that maintains the northern oil tanker ban, eliminating the possibility of an oil pipeline from Alberta to BC's northern coast. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier David Eby announced the Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement in Vancouver last Thursday, with Carney saying it would help unlock more than $150 billion in new investment, including $3.5 billion in federal funds for the North Coast Transmission Line, $500 million to expand the Red Chris Mine, and federal support for a $10-billion upgrade of the Roberts Bank container export terminal. The agreement acknowledges Canada's deal with Alberta on a trans-provincial oil pipeline and commits Ottawa to compensating BC for environmental risks if a pipeline is imposed on the province, with mechanisms to be discussed, including an annual royalty payment and an environmental response fund. Eby said there was "no way" a northern bitumen pipeline would be built under the deal, but acknowledged that pipelines are federal jurisdiction and that the Province will not go to court to fight a pipeline project. The deal also recognizes Canada's interest in increasing throughput on the existing Trans Mountain Pipeline from 890,000 barrels a day to 1.2 million. 
  
  
• Shortly afterwards, Alberta submitted its application for the West Coast Oil Pipeline to the federal Major Projects Office, for a project that would terminate on British Columbia's southwest coast. The proposed pipeline would carry more than one million barrels of oil per day from Bruderheim, Alberta, to a deep-water port on BC's southwest coast, largely following the existing Trans Mountain corridor through southern BC. Alberta chose this southern route over a northern one partly because it would not be subject to the federal oil tanker ban on BC's north coast, and says it offers the fastest, most cost-effective path to the coast. The province will partner with Trans Mountain Corporation and Pembina Pipeline to build the line, and the federal government has committed to a timely review, with the goal of a national-interest listing by October 1st and construction receiving permission (though not actually starting) as early as September 1st, 2027. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Ottawa's support for the pipeline is linked to building the Pathways carbon capture and storage project, an attempt to offset emissions from increased oil production.
  
  
• New BC Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay shook up the party's caucus leadership and critic roles in two separate announcements. Last Monday, Findlay named Chilliwack North MLA Heather Maahs as interim Leader of the Official Opposition, replacing Trevor Halford, who had held the role since John Rustad's resignation in December. Prince George-North Cariboo MLA Sheldon Clare, who ran for the leadership himself before dropping out and endorsing Findlay, becomes house leader, and a series of new regional and stakeholder relations lieutenant positions went largely to Findlay supporters, including her husband, Surrey South MLA Brent Chapman. Critics, including independent MLA Elenore Sturko and the NDP, argued these appointments elevate the party's social conservative wing while sidelining moderates like Halford. Findlay, however, says she is building a "big tent party" and she seemingly followed through on this on Tuesday when she announced that her former leadership rival Peter Milobar would remain in his role as finance critic, and many other MLAs who did not support her leadership bid would remain in her shadow cabinet.
  
  
• Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is asking Parliament to probe Ottawa's proposal to convert unsold condominium units in British Columbia into affordable housing. In a letter to the House of Commons ethics committee, Poilievre argues the program, which could help finance the purchase of 2,200 vacant condos, amounts to a "condo bailout" for developers, bankers and investors. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the plan on June 19th, saying the aim is to support Canadians who need housing, and has since acknowledged that his government did not explain the program well, describing it as part of the BC government's efforts to help homebuyers struggling to save for a down payment. Poilievre contends the Liberals are intervening in the market to help developers who built too many condos that did not fit demand, and says the proposal will prop up high prices by preventing a price correction. He also argues there are inconsistencies in how the project came about. Housing Minister Gregor Robertson's office did not immediately comment on the letter, which was sent to the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, where Liberals hold a majority.
  
  
• Two energy changes are set to reshape what BC households pay to power and upgrade their homes. The federal government is expanding its green home retrofit program to British Columbia, along with Quebec, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, launching the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program with over $500 million in funding, $300 million of it federal, to help more than 35,000 low- and median-income households install heat pumps, insulation and other upgrades at no cost. Unlike the earlier Canada Greener Homes Grant, which reimbursed homeowners after they paid up front and closed in early 2024 after running out of money, the new version requires no upfront spending, is limited to low- and median-income households, and is open to renters, though the government has not yet shared the eligibility criteria or the maximum amount households could receive. In BC, the program will be delivered in coordination with BC Hydro and FortisBC. At the same time, BC Hydro has changed how it compensates households that generate their own solar power, ending the one-to-one net metering credit as of July 1st and paying only 10 cents per kilowatt hour for surplus power homeowners sell back to the grid. Jeremy Valeriote, the BC Green MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, criticized the change, which was approved by the British Columbia Utilities Commission, arguing it punishes people who invested in solar panels expecting net metering to continue. Existing solar customers will be grandfathered in for 10 years.

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