United Conservatives are pressing Naheed Nenshi and Alberta NDP MLAs to explain where they stand after federal NDP leadership candidate Avi Lewis described major pipeline projects as “big, manly things” with “horrifying” impacts — a swipe at Canadian energy development that has sparked backlash in Alberta.Lewis’s comments surfaced just days after Alberta and Ottawa signed a major Memorandum of Understanding that includes a new indigenous co-owned bitumen pipeline aimed at boosting exports to Asian markets. Despite the deal’s emphasis on partnership with indigenous communities, Alberta NDP MLAs have remained silent in the face of Lewis’s remarks.“This is the same party whose leader called a West Coast pipeline a ‘pipe dream’ before backpedalling when the facts proved him wrong,” said Grande Prairie MLA Nolan Dyck, who also serves as parliamentary secretary for indigenous and rural policing. “Now they’re silent while a candidate for leadership of their federal party attacks the very projects that will create thousands of jobs and support families across Alberta.”.Lewis is only the latest federal New Democrat to criticize nation-building energy projects. Leadership candidate and Edmonton MP Heather McPherson voted for the West Coast tanker ban and accused Alberta of being “stuck looking backwards.” When B.C. NDP Premier David Eby dismissed a West Coast pipeline as “fictional,” NDP MLA Jodi Calahoo amplified his video on TikTok. In October, Nenshi echoed Eby’s skepticism, saying “there’s no route, there’s no proponent.”Dyck said the contrast couldn’t be clearer as Alberta advances an energy deal the UCP says will double export capacity, end the federal oil and gas emissions cap, suspend the Clean Electricity Regulations and allow indigenous co-ownership of a major pipeline.“As the federal leadership race heats up, every Alberta NDP MLA needs to tell Albertans if they support our MOU and a new pipeline, or if they support Heather McPherson and Avi Lewis,” Dyck said.
