David Eby has hinted that British Columbia will open up to the idea of a new pipeline across the province, but only under certain circumstances.The premier said he'd consider Alberta's offer if Danielle Smith is able to table a project complete with a proponent and funding.Speaking at a press conference in Seoul, South Korea at the tail end of his 10-day Asia trade tour, Eby argued that it wasn't him or his government preventing BC from taking up Smith's offer. He said the issue was that there's "no project right now," and that the province has committed to prioritizing "shovel-ready" projects..Eby hinted that if his Albertan counterpart succeeds in fulfilling the aforementioned requirements, BC will "certainly cross that bridge," but reminded everyone that there are already "countless projects" that the two provinces can collaborate on.His comments come on the heels of his government's green-lighting of a LNG pipeline to Prince Rupert. When asked about the decision, he said BC is not "in the business of turning away investments," but refused to say whether that same mentality would be used when considering Smith's pipeline..BC says Smith's pipeline proposal has 'no proponent at this stage'. The Alberta premier first floated the idea at the First Ministers' Meeting, arguing that it would strengthen national unity by showing Albertans their interests were being respected.."I think we'll have the most success right now is working on a corridor between Hudson Bay and Port Prince Rupert," Smith said, "and I hope that we can get some common ground on that."BC Deputy Premier Niki Sharma replied by making it clear that a pipeline was just not in the cards at the moment..Smith refused to back down, telling CTV News that she still thinks Eby can be convinced."I know that he's on Team Canada, and I can't imagine that in the end, if we meet the issues that have been raised by British Columbia, that he would go off Team Canada," she said. "That doesn't seem to me to be the type of person David Eby is. I think there's some concerns we have to address — we have to have a proponent, we have to have a route, we've gotta make sure we've got indigenous buy-in — but in the end, we did get two pipelines built."
