David Eby’s May 15 statement about the Canada-Alberta agreement was supposed to sound patriotic. Instead, it exposed the NDP’s resource-economy double standard.

Reacting to Ottawa’s work with Premier Danielle Smith on Alberta energy, Eby said, “As a country, it’s time to stop rewarding bad behaviour.” He said projects should not be prioritized because a premier threatens to leave the country.

But then Eby did the exact thing he criticized: he demanded federal attention for B.C.’s own project list. His statement says B.C. has $88 billion in prioritized projects, 35 additional job-creating projects, critical minerals, natural resources and port access. He says he will meet the Prime Minister next week to bring him a list of projects Ottawa can work on.

The tanker-ban line gives away the game

The most important sentence in the statement is not the line about national unity. It is this: “Our government’s opposition to any repeal of the North Coast tanker ban has not changed.”

That means Eby is not simply asking for fair treatment among provinces. He is defending a policy wall against the very kind of west-coast oil export route Alberta and Ottawa are discussing.

Dallas Brodie called the moment “full mask off” and described Eby as anti-pipeline. The official statement gives voters plenty of reason to understand why.

What Eby said on May 15

  • Canada should not “reward bad behaviour.”
  • Projects should not be prioritized because a premier threatens to leave the country.
  • B.C. has $88 billion in prioritized projects.
  • B.C. has 35 additional job-creating projects needing more Ottawa attention.
  • The federal government should work as closely with B.C. as it works with Alberta on a proposed pipeline.
  • The NDP government’s opposition to repeal of the North Coast tanker ban has not changed.

BC jobs need more than envy

B.C. does have enormous opportunity. Critical minerals, ports, forestry, energy, LNG, mining and infrastructure can support high-paying jobs and public services. But opportunity is not enough if the government’s default position is to regulate, delay, consult, condition, block and then complain when investment goes elsewhere.

The Canada-Alberta agreement itself is not a blank cheque. It contains carbon-price commitments, electricity provisions, emissions policy and references to Indigenous consultation. It also explicitly acknowledges the importance of collaboration with British Columbia. Eby could have used that opening to say B.C. is ready to build.

Instead, he chose grievance first and tanker-ban defence second.

The NDP’s contradiction

The NDP wants Ottawa to treat B.C.’s project list as nation-building. But when Alberta pushes for a pipeline to global markets, Eby frames it as bad behaviour being rewarded. That is not a jobs strategy. It is political gatekeeping.

British Columbians should ask a simple question: if B.C. really has what the world wants, why does the NDP keep defending barriers that make it harder for Canada to sell what the world wants?

The bottom line: Eby can bring all the lists he wants to Ottawa. Until his government stops treating pipelines as political poison, B.C. workers will keep paying for NDP ideology disguised as project management.