Kamloops welcomes pipeline agreement between Province and feds

According to Trans Mountain, the City of Kamloops gets a $2.8 million tax contribution from the pipeline running through the municipality.

The agreement also outlines a plan to compensate B.C. for the environmental risks the province will take on from any new pipeline.

“Regarding the environmental concerns that will still be raised, I think the Premier and Prime Minister have addressed those and will be watching and dealing with that,” said Bass.

“I’m really glad that the northern tanker ban is staying in place. That’s something we needed to do. This southern route is the option, this is what we have to deal with and we will see how it comes together.”

Federal government officials said the project is expected to increase the pipeline’s output from 890,000 barrels of oil per day to nearly 1.2 million.

Oil pumped from Alberta to B.C.’s Lower Mainland could then be shipped to Asian markets.

The pipeline is part the broader, multi-billion dollar deal between the B.C. government and Ottawa.

However, there is no particular date on when construction could start, with the government agreement promising financial commitments to come on or before December 1, 2026.

Deputy Mayor Bass said the Alberta government will also need to weigh in on the proposal.

“I’m still waiting to hear what [Premier] Daniel Smith in Alberta has to say about this as well – there’s a wild card right there,” said Bass.

“We’re just going to need to wait and see what happens, talk when they want to talk, learn what they want to tell us, move forward and see how it expands the city and what kind of community benefits flow from it.”

The province and the feds promise consultation with local governments and First Nations on the new pipeline before shovels hit the ground.

by Elora McCormack

Kamloops welcomes pipeline agreement between Province and feds

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