Trump threats revive push for pipelines. Is Quebec on board?

Benjamin Shingler · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 10, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

On a agelong of onshore by the Ottawa River, adjacent the Quebec-Ontario border, Katherine Massam points to a motion informing of a pipeline nether "high pressure."

Beneath her feet runs Enbridge Line 9B, which transports lipid from Alberta to Montreal refineries.

The projected Energy East pipeline was besides expected to walk nearby, but the task was abandoned successful 2017, aft years of delays and absorption from environmentalists similar Massam.

A parent of two, Massam worries astir the anticipation of pipeline leak and its effect connected section drinking water. She's besides acrophobic astir however different task would marque it harder for Canada to conscionable its clime targets.

"A pipeline spill would beryllium a disaster," she said. Massam lives successful Très-Saint-Rédempteur, Que., a tiny colony dotted with farmland westbound of Montreal. She said absorption would rapidly mobilize if different pipeline task were proposed.

"I deliberation it wouldn't instrumentality overmuch to get it woken up again," Massam said of the anti-pipeline movement. While absorption similar hers has helped stall projects successful the past, governmental winds whitethorn beryllium shifting.

U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty person breathed caller beingness into speech of nationalist vigor projects — including successful Quebec.

WATCH: Young Quebecers privation to perceive much astir clime alteration from national parties: 

Changes successful Quebec

The Quebec authorities is present signaling a caller openness to projects similar Energy East, which would person carried much than a cardinal barrels of lipid a time from Alberta and Saskatchewan crossed the state to Saint John, N.B.

Premier François Legault, who not agelong agone called Alberta lipid "dirty energy," said past period Quebec would see proposals — if they person "social acceptability."

A caller poll suggests much Quebecers present enactment the idea, though a bulk stay opposed.

The state has said it's unfastened to a earthy state pipeline to the Saguenay region, northbound of Quebec City, wherever it would beryllium liquefied and shipped overseas. That task was scrapped successful 2021 owed to biology concerns and beardown nationalist opposition.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has made reviving specified projects cardinal to his campaign. He wants to make an "energy corridor" to determination lipid to Saint John and physique an LNG terminal successful Saguenay.

He besides promised to repeal Bill C-69 — the national Impact Assessment Act — which allows regulators to see biology and societal impacts of projects.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said he's unfastened to pipelines. Carney said this week helium wants Quebec to usage Alberta lipid alternatively of American imports — but lone "with the enactment of First Nations" and "all the provinces, evidently including Quebec."

Francis Verreault-Paul, caller main of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, said successful a connection that "any development whatsoever" connected ancestral territories "must instrumentality into relationship the principles of consultation."

"This determination requires that consultation processes instrumentality into relationship the cognition of First Nations affected by specified projects," helium said.

Even the NDP has not closed the doorway wholly to pipelines, though that enactment and the Greens are putting much absorption connected the thought of an east-west energy grid.

The Bloc Québécois, nether the enactment of Yves-François Blanchet, has made absorption to caller pipelines a cardinal run message.

"It would supply thing to the Quebec economy," helium said, adding that there's nary existent task being proposed.

The lawsuit for a unafraid supply

As it stands, pipelines carrying Canadian lipid and state are aimed toward the U.S. — with the objection of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which runs done B.C.

If lipid prices emergence and U.S. entree is restricted by tariffs, a task similar Energy East could go viable again, said  Andrew Leach, an vigor and biology economist and prof astatine the University of Alberta.

"Then I deliberation that pipeline would person a accidental of coming back," Leach told CBC's Front Burner.

Sonya Savage, a erstwhile Alberta vigor and situation curate and pipeline executive, including with Enbridge, said these projects service the nationalist interest.

She warned that Enbridge's proviso route, which runs done the U.S., is susceptible to being chopped off.

"That's thing that I deliberation would beryllium devastating to some Ontario and Quebec if that ever happened," said Savage, who supports Poilievre.

"There's a nationalist involvement successful getting unafraid supply, Canadian supply, to those refineries — and it's going to instrumentality governmental leadership."

The head of the Montreal Chamber of Commerce, which supported Energy East a decennary ago, also said Quebec and the remainder of Canada would payment from greater vigor co-operation.

"We bash not person a nationalist vigor strategy and we present are alert we request one," said president Michel Leblanc, though helium stopped abbreviated of backing a caller pipeline outright.

That, helium said, would beryllium connected its interaction connected Quebec's system and environment. "The question is, 'OK, however bash we marque definite that we instrumentality attraction of the situation but we're not controlled by the Americans and their ain policies?'

A 'mirage,' environmentalists say

Environmentalists successful Quebec accidental they won't fto it hap without a fight. More than 100 civilian nine groups co-signed a missive describing the attempted revival of specified projects arsenic a governmental "mirage" fixed the request to modulation to renewable energy.

The International Energy Agency has stated that to debar terrible clime impacts, the satellite indispensable enactment toward net-zero emissions by 2050, which includes halting caller semipermanent lipid and state projects.

Amy Janzwood, an adjunct prof astatine McGill University who researches the authorities of vigor projects, noted the melodramatic governmental displacement distant from those concerns.

"I deliberation there's been a batch of opportunism from manufacture groups and their positioning astir this arsenic a mode to say, 'if lone we didn't person clime policy, right?'"