Last spring, Mark Carney set two trains on a collision course. The first was his government’s support for a new oil pipeline from Alberta to BC’s coast; the second was his promise that Indigenous and provincial support would be a prerequisite for any nation-building proposal to be considered for fast-tracking by the Major Projects Office.

Up to now, those trains have run on the intangible tracks of principle. In principle , Carney wants Canada to be a “ superpower in both clean and conventional energy .” In principle , he believes provinces and Ottawa can avoid disputes by focusing on their mutual interests. And he’s all for the principle of securing free, prior and informed consent from the Indigenous communities whose territories stand to be impacted

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