Liberals favour idiot environmentalists and fossil fuel haters who want to take Canada back to the stone age, over the majority of Canadians. Time to kick Carney and the Liberals back to the stone age and out of government.
72% of Canadians Say Pipelines Vital to Economy, Plurality Back Alberta’s Plan
Jennifer Cowan
10/27/2025|Updated: 10/27/2025
Nearly three-quarters of Canadians describe pipelines as vital for Canada’s economic prospects, while slightly less than half are in favour of Alberta’s plan to build a new oil pipeline to the B.C. coast, a new poll suggests.
Forty-nine percent of nearly 4,100 Canadians surveyed by Leger this month expressed their support for the Alberta government’s proposal for a new oil pipeline that would link the province to the northwest coast of British Columbia to export Canadian energy to Asian markets.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced Oct. 1 that her government would submit a proposal to Ottawa’s Major Project Office (MPO) to build a new pipeline to tidewater. The MPO was created by the Mark Carney government to fast-track projects “deemed to be of national importance.”
The province is committing $14 million toward early-stage planning and design for the pipeline, which it expects to submit to Ottawa by spring next year. The plan is to get the pipeline past the approval stage and then find a private company to take over the project.
B.C. Premier David Eby has been critical of Smith’s pipeline push, saying it could impede projects that his province has on the major projects list that also have First Nations endorsement, such as the second phase of LNG Canada’s port located in Kitimat, B.C., and the expansion of the Red Chris mine.
Pipeline Support
A majority of Canadians surveyed say they back pipelines in general, with 72 percent in favour. More than 70 percent of survey respondents in every province except B.C. identified new pipelines as “important” to Canada’s overall economic future.
That support was highest in Alberta at 77 percent, closely followed by Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Atlantic Canada at 73 percent, Ontario at 72 percent, and Quebec at 70 percent. Support in B.C. hovers at 67 percent.
A large majority of both genders and all age groups expressed similar sentiments about the economic importance of pipelines. Seventy-seven percent of men and 66 percent of women described pipelines as important as did 69 percent of those in the 18 to 34 and 35 to 54 age groups and 76 percent of those 55 and older.
Opinions on Smith’s proposed pipeline project varied by region, with the highest level of support found in Alberta at 63 percent, closely followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 59 percent. Quebec and British Columbia reported the lowest support, at 41 percent and 44 percent support respectively.
Both Ontario and Atlantic Canada were positioned in the middle, with 50 percent of respondents indicating their support for Alberta’s pipeline proposal.
The level of enthusiasm also varied greatly by gender and age. Men were much more supportive of Alberta’s new pipeline project at 58 percent, compared to 40 percent of women, while older Canadians were more likely to be in favour than their younger counterparts.
Support stood at only 40 percent among those aged 18 to 34 compared to 56 percent among the 55 and older demographic. The 35-to-54 age group was in the middle at 48 percent.
The survey found that while the environment was also a concern for many respondents, 55 percent expressed confidence pipelines can be constructed while sufficiently safeguarding the environment.
Forty-five percent of those polled also expressed a preference for a balance to be established between the focus on pipeline development and climate goals.
Pipeline Proposal
Alberta’s proposed pipeline route has yet to be determined, but Smith has said it would likely end at Prince Rupert, B.C., or Kitimat, B.C., and carry 1 million barrels of crude oil per day.
She has described the response to the pipeline plan being developed by her province as a “test” of Canada as a country.
“If we can’t build with collaboration of the federal government and between provinces, if it’s everybody gets to get their products going to market, except Alberta, that’s not a country,” Smith said during her Oct. 1 press conference to announce her plan.
Smith also said she’s confident private investment and private proponents will step forward if the pipeline project is approved and fast-tracked by the MPO, but said there are several pieces of federal legislation, such as an oil tanker ban off of the coast of B.C., that stand in the way of oil and gas development. She said she wants to use the new MPO to remove the effect of those regulations.
Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson has said the proposed pipeline will need the backing of both B.C.’s government and First Nations along the pipeline route for it to become a reality.
“We have said that to build, you need the support of the jurisdiction you build through and the support of First Nations,” Hodgson said Oct. 9 in comments to the Senate. “The proponent—in this case, the Province of Alberta—must attract that if they want to build.” |
