Carney to meet with Coastal First Nations in Prince Rupert Tuesday

Prime Minister Mark Carney will be in Prince Rupert on Tuesday for a meeting with Coastal First Nations.

He will be joined by federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson and Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson.

They are expected to discuss major projects in the region and common priorities like marine conservation.

Coastal First Nations is a non-profit formed by several First Nations on B.C.’s north coast.

The visit comes after Ottawa and Alberta signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in November that includes a commitment toward a new bitumen pipeline to B.C.’s coast.

Coastal First Nations has said repealing the federal oil tanker moratorium in B.C.’s northern waters to route a pipeline there would threaten the environment and local economies.

“This pipeline project will never happen,” said President Marilyn Slett, elected Chief of the Heiltsuk Nation, just ahead of the MOU announcement. She said First Nations had been met by a “wall of silence” from Ottawa regarding the agreement.

Premier David Eby and Coastal First Nations signed a joint declaration in early November, calling on the federal government to uphold the oil tanker ban.

Eby has repeatedly dismissed the pipeline proposal, noting there is no private backing for the project. He has said repealing the oil tanker ban would threaten First Nations’ support for other major projects in B.C.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has long called on Ottawa to repeal the ban, saying it’s one of several barriers to securing a proponent for a pipeline project.

Hodgson’s visit comes after he issued an apology to Coastal First Nations in late November for comments he made in a CBC interview.

In the interview, Hodgson dismissed concerns raised by Slett about the short notice given for a meeting he had offered the organization, saying “it’s called Zoom.”

Hodgson later said in a social media post he regretted the comments and he had reached out to Coastal First Nations to arrange an in-person meeting “at their convenience.”

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