Dan Albas is the Conservative Party MP for the riding of Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna.
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There is an old saying: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
In Prime Minister Mark Carney’s case, all his fresh rhetoric and new offices have done little to break the chokehold on our energy sector or free us from reliance on American buyers and refineries, particularly here in British Columbia.
On February 12, 2025, Mark Carney stood before Liberal supporters in Kelowna and declared, “Something that my government will do is use all of the powers of the federal government, including the emergency powers of the federal government, to accelerate the major projects that we need.” Many in Alberta and BC heard a promise of new pipelines to markets beyond the United States, which still takes roughly 97 percent of our crude exports. Five days later, Carney backtracked to a Quebec reporter: “I would never impose (a pipeline) on Quebec.”
In August, Prime Minister Carney opened a Calgary-based Major Projects Office under former Trans Mountain chair Dawn Farrell—at a salary of $577,000–$679,000—only for Radio-Canada to reveal that no oil or gas pipelines made the initial “nation-building” list. “No private company has raised a finger so far to develop such a project,” insiders told reporters.
Here in B.C., we feel the hidden cost of pipeline paralysis. While we ship raw crude south, we import more than one-third of our road-transport fuels and a large share of Vancouver International Airport’s jet fuel from BP’s Cherry Point refinery in Washington, which processes about 225,000 barrels per day.
Regulatory roadblocks like Bill C-69 and Bill C-48 killed hopes for a new B.C. refinery—most notably the 200,000 barrels a day Kitimat project, canceled in February 2025 after years of process and delay. Those same barriers tether Canadian oil and gas to a single buyer, depress our dollar, inflate pump prices, and push grocery costs upward.
By accepting USA discounted rates instead of accessing world-market prices, we lose revenue that should go to fund priorities like health care and our military. We even pay USA refineries a premium on our own resource—fuel that began as discounted Canadian crude and now comes back to us in US dollars.
The Canadian Sovereignty Act proposed by Conservatives provides a clear remedy. By repealing all the anti-energy-security laws that stalled pipelines and tanker traffic, scrapping the oil and gas emissions cap and industrial carbon tax, and introducing a Canada First Reinvestment Tax Cut to eliminate capital gains on reinvested energy proceeds, it would open our industry to global markets and world prices. It would also allow for a much-needed correction, particularly for BC.
If there’s a policy that can benefit BC and all Canadians more broadly, it’s this: Access to world markets means higher export revenues for federal and provincial coffers, more Canadian jobs, lower energy imports and genuine energy security. A stronger dollar will make imported goods cheaper. With more energy infrastructure like pipelines, along with expanded domestic refining in BC, we’ll see lower prices at the pump, and we’ll stop sending U.S. refineries a premium on our own resource.
My question for you this week: Do you support the market diversification and energy security strategy grounded in the Canadian Sovereignty Act?
Join the lively discussion online at my Facebook Page. I also welcome your feedback at [email protected] or via our toll-free line at 1-800-665-8711.
