Canada's energy conversation shouldn't 'start and end' with pipelines, Carney says

Rhianna Schmunk · CBC News

· Posted: May 27, 2025 7:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Prime Minister Mark Carney says helium agrees "more needs to beryllium done" to enactment Canada's vigor assemblage and fortify the wider home economy, but reiterated helium believes the manufacture should not revolve solely astir the accepted lipid and state pipelines that person agelong fuelled political statement retired West.

In an interrogation Tuesday, Carney said his caller government will beryllium focused connected diversifying the vigor assemblage beyond its roots successful Alberta's oilpatch to see other, cleanable vigor resources from crossed the country. He did not regularisation retired pipelines as part of the discussion, but said helium doesn't judge astir Canadians see those projects arsenic the be-all-end-all option.

"It's remarkable. In immoderate circles, this speech starts and ends with pipelines," Carney told CBC's Power & Politics big David Cochrane successful Ottawa.

"But that's what it has go politically," Cochrane noted.

"No, that is not what it's go politically. That is not what it's go for Canada. Canada arsenic a nation," Carney said.

"Canadians, yes, they privation energy pipelines that marque sense. They besides privation connections betwixt our cleanable grids. They privation really little carbon, truthful they privation c seizure and retention … they privation broader [mineral exporting] corridors, for illustration ... that unfastened up full swaths of the state to caller commercialized truthful that we are sovereign in the astir important components of the future," helium continued.

"All of those things are possible."

WATCH | Carney connected his imaginativeness for Canada's vigor sector: 

Stalled oregon cancelled pipeline projects person fuelled feelings of alienation successful the West for years. Oilpatch leaders chastised the erstwhile Liberal authorities for introducing policies they said wounded the assemblage — similar cleanable substance regulations, the projected emissions cap and changes to the national appraisal of large projects.

Concern has risen further since the Liberal Party held onto powerfulness successful past month's election, contempt lone winning 3 of the 51 seats successful the deep-blue provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Support for a referendum connected Alberta's sovereignty has seen renewed support, successful turn, with backers insisting the state has its ain unsocial individuality with values Ottawa doesn't share.

Asked connected Tuesday however helium planned to face the discontent, Carney said helium believes it was co-operation betwixt Alberta and Ottawa that gave emergence to the archetypal large-scale commercialized oilsands task helium remembers from his childhood. (The premier curate was calved successful Fort Smith, N.W.T., 2 years earlier the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant opened successful Fort McMurray, Alta., in 1967.)

"When I was born, the oilsands was a concept," said Carney, who grew up successful Edmonton. "It was the ingenuity of Canadians, galore Albertan engineers and entrepreneurs, and the concern betwixt the national authorities and the provincial authorities that made the oilsands what they are. This is what we request today."

WATCH | Albertans person 'legitimate grievances,' Poilievre says: 

Carney said aggregate provinces and Indigenous leaders volition besides play a role.

"The lone mode to get [that co-operation], successful my view, is to admit what a infinitesimal that we are in, the request for ambition and the request to enactment together."

Tim Powers, a governmental columnist who has worked connected galore Conservative campaigns, said Carney could person been much nonstop successful his reply but it was wide he's not outright against pipelines arsenic a concept.

"He's been a spot evasive, but helium hasn't enactment a cardinal caveats connected it all. And successful different places he's said he's not opposed to a pipeline. So we should expect, arsenic helium is calibrating and looking astatine options, a pipeline of immoderate assortment — or 2 — could beryllium successful the mix," Powers said.

Canada's lipid and state assemblage has not pitched caller pipelines nether the existent regulatory environment. After the predetermination past month, dozens of Canadian lipid and state CEOs wrote to Carney and asked that he repeal the appraisal instrumentality and scrap emissions headdress regulations.

LISTEN | CBC's Front Burner covers Alberta's separatist movement: