It has been two weeks since Premier Danielle Smith presented her plan for the West Coast Pipeline to Prime Minister Mark Carney during the Calgary Stampede. This was followed by the announcement of another pipeline to Sarnia, Ontario. A new poll from Angus Reid suggests the majority of Canadians currently support these projects, though that support could change. Only 25% strongly support the proposed West Coast Pipeline (to BC) and 22% the Northern Shield Pipeline (to Ontario). 

“In both cases, only about half of Canadians say they have truly made up their minds about the projects, suggesting both proposed pipelines sit on proverbially shifting ground.”

Premier Smith, a former lobbyist for the oil sector, wants to double Alberta’s oil production to 8 million barrels a day over the course of the next decade. 

“Our oilsands partners will have the incentives they need to launch a super-cycle of production growth in Canada’s most valuable deposit of natural resources.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced, “The truth is nobody knows how long the global economy will rely on conventional energy. But while it does, as much of that energy as possible should come from Canada.”

He suggested the ambitious climate policies advanced during the Trudeau era were too divisive. Canada will continue to address its emissions, but at a slower pace.  

The strongest reasons respondents to the Angus Reid poll gave for supporting the proposed pipelines were financial. A slight majority of Canadians stress oil’s importance to the economy, while 55% believe it is important to find markets outside the United States.

British Columbia’s long entrenched resistance to pipelines appears to have at least temporarily eroded. 

“Three-in-five (62%) say they support this new project proposed by Alberta. Two-in-five (40%) in B.C. say they find the fact that the pipeline won’t be breaking a new path and will instead follow the existing Trans Mountain pipeline as a compelling reason to support the project.”

The proverbial elephant in this equation is the mounting costs of climate change impacts. Floods currently cost Canadians about $60 million a year, but this is expected to dramatically increase. According to Natural Resources Canada, “Annual national costs for fighting wildfires total over $1 billion.” The Insurance Bureau of Canada claims that severe weather-related insured losses in Canada were more than $2.4 billion in 2025. According to a report from the Climate Institute, Canada’s GDP took a $25 billion hit in 2025 and they expect the annual cost to at least triple by the middle of this century. 

There are health costs as well. A recent news release from the Canadian Medical Association states, “Recent indicators show that between 2020-2024 heatwave exposure among vulnerable groups has skyrocketed: exposure among older adults increased by 284% and among infants by 113% compared with 1986–2005.” Add to this, the costs of increased respiratory diseases from exposure to wildfire smoke. 

Extreme weather events also threaten food quality, prices, and distribution.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada the leading cause of climate change is ‘burning fossil fuels,’ which Carney and Smith hope to dramatically increase.

This was not a major concern to the respondents of the Angus Reid poll, at least not yet. Only 24% expressed concerns about the pipeline projects increasing emissions. Forty-one percent suggested Canada should invest in renewable energy instead.

While the vast majority of repondents supported the West Coast (63%) and Northern Shield (55%) pipelines, these are soft numbers that are contingent on results. 

Links of Interest:

• Pipelines & opinions: 63% support pipeline from Alberta to BC; economic arguments prove most persuasive – Angus Reid
• The Costs of Climate Change -Canadian Climate Institute
• Articles about, or mentioning, the West Coast pipeline

Top image credit: Prime Minister Carney at the Calgary Stampede – courtesy his X page

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