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Carney announces $1.2 billion for oceans ahead of expected pipeline decision
The plan includes $740 million for marine protection measures and $136 million to protect whales from oil spills and underwater noise.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a $1.2 billion investment to safeguard Canadian waters from increasing tanker traffic while speaking in Vancouver.
This investment arrives as Ottawa faces a Thursday deadline to decide whether to designate a proposed pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia coast as a project of national interest.
Most of the funding, $740 million, targets incident prevention and Canadian Coast Guard capacity, while $136 million funds whale protection and $186 million supports West Coast-specific measures.
The initiative commits to Indigenous-led stewardship of the Lower Fraser River Estuary; earlier, LNG Canada announced a Phase 2 expansion in Kitimat, British Columbia.
Government officials are expected to finalize the TMX pipeline designation by Thursday, which would twin the existing line amid political developments involving Albertans heading to the polls.