The future of the oil tanker ban in northern B.C. waters is now in question after the federal and Alberta governments signed an energy agreement Thursday that sets the stage for a pipeline to the West Coast.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) includes a commitment from Ottawa to “enable the export of bitumen from a strategic deep-water port to Asian markets, including if necessary through an appropriate adjustment to the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act.”

Alberta and federal Conservatives have long argued the 2019 federal law prevents the building of new pipelines and therefore constrains the oil and gas industry, and have called for the federal government to repeal it.

The B.C. government and Coastal First Nations, however, are vowing to do everything in their power to keep the tanker

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