Conservatives Push Liberals Into Tough Pipeline Vote
So, here’s what’s been unfolding in Ottawa — and it has turned into quite the political chess match. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre put forward a motion calling for support of a major new pipeline through British Columbia, along with changes to the federal tanker ban that currently blocks oil shipments off the province’s north coast. The Liberals immediately signaled they would vote against it, brushing it off as a cynical stunt. But right after that rejection became public, Poilievre flipped the script.
Instead of backing away, he amended his own motion to make it harder — politically and publicly — for Liberal MPs to oppose it. And he did that by adding more pieces from the climate-and-energy memorandum of understanding that Prime Minister Mark Carney recently signed with Alberta. The idea seemed to be simple: if the Liberals claimed his motion wasn’t aligned with the Carney-Alberta agreement, then he would align it for them.
Suddenly, the motion also included support for the Pathways Alliance carbon capture project, a commitment linked in the MOU to the same proposed pipeline. It also added calls for Indigenous consultation, ownership opportunities, benefits-sharing, and broader engagement with the B.C. government. In other words, Poilievre tried to wrap his pipeline push inside the very deal the Liberals are still trying to defend — despite deep fractures inside their own caucus.
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But that tactic opened a new line of questioning. A Liberal MP from Calgary, Corey Hogan, asked whether Conservatives were willing to also include industrial carbon pricing — a major pillar of the Carney-Alberta agreement and something Poilievre has aggressively opposed as a “tax.” Hogan basically challenged him to adopt all of the MOU, not just the parts the Conservatives find convenient. Poilievre deflected, accusing Hogan of supporting a “crippling carbon tax,” and left the pricing question untouched.
Meanwhile, the Liberals continued to call the whole thing a stunt meant to expose divisions on their side. And those divisions are hard to ignore. Some Liberal MPs — including Steven Guilbeault, who resigned from cabinet over the deal — have spoken openly against the agreement, calling it a step backward on climate policy. Others in B.C. say they were sidelined during negotiations and are doubtful a new pipeline through the province is realistic or even justifiable.
The agreement itself is massive and controversial. It links federal backing for a pipeline to a major carbon capture project, loosens several federal climate regulations, and delays tougher methane rules. It also opens the door to increased oil production for export — something environmental advocates warn could push emissions significantly higher.
So, as the House of Commons prepares to vote, the Liberals are stuck between defending their own deal and rejecting the Conservative motion that now mirrors key parts of it. And that is exactly the political squeeze Poilievre was aiming for.
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