First Nation seeks say on new Alberta oil pipeline with Metro Vancouver terminal | Daily Hive

Tsawwassen First Nation seeks consultation on Alberta's proposed new oil pipeline and export terminal in Metro Vancouver

The existing causeway in Tsawwassen with the GTC Deltaport container terminal and Westshore coal export terminal. (Musco)

Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) is emphasizing that it should be consulted on the Alberta government’s proposed new oil pipeline route to Roberts Bank, where a major marine export terminal and storage facility would be built.

The responses come after the Alberta government confirmed last week its preferred route concept for a new additional crude oil pipeline from the Edmonton area to Metro Vancouver, generally following the existing Trans Mountain Pipeline corridor for much of its route until the Fraser Valley, before terminating at a massive new marine export terminal at Roberts Bank in Delta.

The proposed route reaches B.C.’s Lower Mainland, as the federal government has agreed to uphold the tanker ban for B.C.’s northern coast upon the request of the provincial government and the First Nations in that northern area.

But according to the Tsawwassen First Nation, the proposed oil pipeline through Metro Vancouver and the Roberts Bank terminal would be located within their traditional territory and could potentially include a portion of the 2009 Tsawwassen Treaty Settlement Lands, which are under the First Nation’s jurisdiction.

At this juncture, TFN notes that it has not been consulted.

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A key hurdle for the overall project relates to First Nations support along the route, with the B.C., Alberta, and federal governments already indicating that early consultation is a priority. The pipeline passes through the territories of up to 125 Indigenous groups, with the pipeline corridor options crossing through nine to 11 First Nations reserves belonging to between five and seven First Nations for about 13 km to 14 km.

The proposed pipeline comes at a time of heightened debate in B.C. and elsewhere in Canada over how major resource and infrastructure projects should proceed, particularly when they involve First Nations consultation, property rights, environmental protection, and economic development. These issues have increasingly led to court challenges, regulatory disputes, and competing demands from governments, First Nations, industry, landowners, environmental groups, and local residents.

Against the backdrop of global economic instability and the desire to be less dependent on the United States, supporters argue such projects are nationally essential for jobs, investment, energy security, and public revenues.

At the same time, as reflected in consecutive public opinion surveys as well as media and political commentary, there is also growing fatigue among some Canadians, businesses, and governments over how the growing list of wide range of First Nations reconciliation-related obligations can affect the pace, certainty, and cost of major projects, and overall economic prosperity. The political climate surrounding reconciliation and governments’ highly deferential approach to First Nations has also shifted in the past year, with growing uncertainty and major opposition over the broader implications of legal and policy precedents, such as the Cowichan Tribes case in Richmond and B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

For example, this week, the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation — a diferrent First Nation — filed a legal challenge in Federal Court against the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s planned dredging project at the Second Narrows of Burrard Inlet. The federally-approved project would allow oil tankers serving North Burnaby’s Westridge Marine Terminal, which is fed by the Trans Mountain Pipeline, to fill closer to capacity, improving the efficiency of tanker operations.

westridge marine terminal burrard inlet burnaby trans mountain pipeline

Trans Mountain Pipeline’s oil export facility of Westridge Marine Terminal, located at Burrard Inlet in Burnaby. (Trans Mountain Corporation)

“Tsawwassen First Nation is a modern Treaty Nation, and our Treaty rights are constitutionally protected. We have not been consulted on this proposal. If this project proceeds, we expect to be meaningfully involved from the earliest stages of planning and decision-making,” said TFN executive councillor Valerie Cross in a statement on the proposed Alberta-Metro Vancouver pipeline project.

TFN has a population of about 400 members, including roughly 200 who live on the First Nation’s reserve at Roberts Bank.

The First Nation indicates that it has not taken a position for or against the proposed pipeline at this time. Any future position, it says, will be shaped by engagement with its members, a technical review of the proposal, and formal consultation processes.

The First Nation asserts that any project affecting its interests would be assessed through its own “Impact Assessment Framework.” That review would consider potential impacts on Treaty rights, lands, waters, the Fraser River estuary, Roberts Bank, fisheries, marine ecosystems, community well-being, and future generations.

TFN also noted that a project of this scale could bring both opportunities and risks. Any potential economic or other benefits would be weighed alongside environmental, cultural, social, and Treaty-rights impacts.

The First Nation is also pushing back against any suggestion that a federal designation as a National Priority Project under Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Major Projects Office would override the usual review and consultation requirements.

“The designation of a project as a national priority does not diminish First Nations rights or consultation obligations. Meaningful consultation, environmental review, and regulatory processes must still occur,” added Cross.

The Alberta government’s proposal envisions a new marine export terminal at Roberts Bank, completely separate from the existing Roberts Bank port causeway.

The concept would place a massive piece of energy infrastructure in an area that already includes container and coal port facilities and BC Ferries’ busy Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, as well as major rail and road infrastructure and industrial uses.

The project would involve building a new third causeway at Roberts Bank, in addition to the existing causeway for the BC Ferries terminal and the separate causeway serving the GCT Deltaport container terminal and Westshore coal export terminal.

The existing GCT/Westshore causeway is already set to be significantly lengthened and expanded for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s brand-new additional Roberts Bank 2 container superport. Early construction work on Roberts Bank 2 is expected to begin in 2027, with completion and opening targeted for the mid-2030s.

Roberts Bank 2 alone would create 450 acres of new land through reclamation in the Strait of Georgia. The new Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement announced last week by the federal and provincial governments also includes support for Roberts Bank 2.

The federal government has already endorsed a process to support the Alberta government’s ambitions for a new oil pipeline to the West Coast. The B.C. government has also agreed to work with the federal and Alberta governments to determine the route, as well as negotiate the continuous major economic and financial benefits that would be received by the B.C. government.

The pipeline’s entire Roberts Bank terminal facility would span about 640 acres, including a brand-new additional causeway and jetty reaching the deep waters of the Strait of Georgia. The combined length of the causeway and jetty would be about five km – roughly the same length as the area’s two existing causeways.

Preliminary artistic rendering of Roberts Bank Terminal 2 container superport. (Vancouver Fraser Port Authority)

Roberts Bank Delivery Tank Terminal oil delta tsawwassen

Potential route options for the new Alberta-B.C. West Coast oil pipeline to reach the new Roberts Bank marine terminal, largely following the Trans Mountain corridor. (Government of Alberta)

That is drawing concern from Friends of Delta, a local community organization, which says Delta and the Fraser River estuary would be highly affected by such a project.

In a statement, Friends of Delta spokesperson Bev Yaworski said the proposal adds to long-standing concerns about cumulative development pressures in the area.

“Any and all inroads we’ve made over the past decade (and more) for environmental protection of the Fraser Delta are being corroded. No overall studies of impact from all development on the Fraser and now the minimizing of Environmental Assessments and consultation! Only to be told: the ‘tanker ban in Northern BC remains in place,'” said Yaworski.

“The Fraser River and estuary maintains human and animal life. Not just for our region, but far into the land and waterways around us. How can we possibly justify the continuation of development of this sensitive area with yet more fossil fuel on top of the coal, LNG and jet fuel? Our quality of life and sense of community is important. We look to our representatives to ensure that responsible, sustainable economic development is undertaken to protect our lives.”

Over a decade ago, the Tsawwassen First Nation briefly considered a proposal put forward by their band leadership to build a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) plant on an 80-acre waterfront site just northeast of the B.C. Ferries terminal.

It would have the capacity to produce three to five million tonnes of LNG per year, which would be stored in three large tanks until the product is ready to be loaded onto LNG carriers for export at a new marine terminal at a new Roberts Bank deep water port. It would have been fed by a new 10-km-long pipeline to Fortis BC’s natural gas supply.

However, 53 per cent of the band’s membership voted against the LNG project, which prevented any further consideration of the proposal.

TFN has since turned a significant proportion of their 2009 Treaty lands into leasehold residential properties, industrial developments, and commercial uses, including the Tsawwassen Mills shopping mall.

The proposed oil pipeline is still at a very early stage, with the Alberta government presenting it to the federal government as a nation-building project that could expand Canada’s access to overseas energy markets. However, the Alberta government intends to move relatively quickly, with major construction beginning in 2028 at an estimated construction cost of up to $44 billion.

The federally-owned Trans Mountain Corporation and Pembina Pipeline Corporation will own, design, build, and operate the project under a joint partnership.

Tsawwassen Mills mall in Delta. (Tsawwassen Mills)

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