CEO of new Major Projects Office skirts MPs’ questions about tanker ban

OTTAWA — The head of Canada’s new Major Projects Office and her staff sidestepped MPs’ questions Thursday about whether she has special powers to skirt the West Coast tanker ban.

Dawn Farrell was hired earlier this year as the CEO of the new office, which has been tasked by the federal government with reviewing project proposals to see if they qualify for fast-track approval.

Farrell told the House of Commons standing committee on environment and sustainable development 500 projects are waiting to be reviewed by her office, with nine currently being assessed. It’s not clear which additional projects her office is reviewing beyond the initial five announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney in mid-September.

During the committee hearing Thursday, Conservative MP Branden Leslie said he’s heard the government is “quietly” telling stakeholders the new powers in the Liberals’ major projects bill could be used to bypass the ban on oil tankers off the northern coast of British Columbia.

Asked if it was true, Farrell passed the question to her staff. Director Sarah Jackson replied there is no “automatic” exemption for the tanker ban.

“The law does not provide for exemptions. It provides for streamlined approvals for authorizations listed in Schedule 2,” Jackson said.

“The tanker ban is not one of those pieces of legislation listed in Schedule 2. So by virtue of being designated under the act, that would not be an automatic result.”

That “Schedule 2” is a list of existing laws under which the government can issue special permits to allow a project to proceed under the Build Canada Act. The government rammed the legislation through Parliament before the summer break in less than three weeks.

There are 12 laws currently on the list, including the Fisheries Act, the Species At Risk Act and the Impact Assessment Act. There are also laws the government can’t add to the list, but the tanker ban isn’t among them — meaning Ottawa could add it if it wants to.

When Leslie asked if the tanker ban would apply to a new pipeline approved by her office, Jackson said she couldn’t “comment on a hypothetical project.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is pushing to get a new pipeline project submitted to Farrell’s office by the spring, pending a deal with the federal government which she hopes would see it drop some environmental laws, including the tanker ban.

Asked how long it would take to review a pipeline proposal brought forward by Alberta to determine if it qualifies as a project of “national interest” under the Build Canada Act, Farrell initially said she couldn’t offer a timeline because of how new she was in her job.

Pressed by Conservative MP David Bexte to say what her goal is for a timeline, Farrell said four to five months.

Smith has said she has a list of nine “bad laws” she wants repealed, including the government’s emissions cap on oil and gas production.

Last year, Ottawa introduced draft regulations — two years behind schedule — requiring that upstream oil and gas operations reduce emissions to 35 per cent below where they were in 2019 by sometime between 2030 and 2032.

While Carney had said earlier this year he would keep the emissions cap on oil and gas production in place if elected — but fast-track investments in carbon capture to meet those emissions targets — the government hasn’t been as steadfast in recent weeks.

Last month, when asked by reporters whether Ottawa would eliminate the cap if the oil and gas sector reduces its carbon footprint, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin said the government was reviewing the feedback it received on the draft regulations “and looking at where we go from there.”

Then on Thursday in the Senate, Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson was asked by Conservative Sen. Denise Batters whether it was true the government told Alberta’s premier it would lift the emissions cap.

Hodgson didn’t address the question directly but said the government was in “live, ongoing discussions” with the province.

“I’ve never found it helpful to debate in a public forum what those consultations are,” Hodgson said.

“What I would say, they are productive conversations. As Premier Smith said recently, she’s never been as optimistic that there’s a path forward for Albertans on natural resource development.”

Energy companies have called on the government to scrap its proposed emissions cap, saying it creates uncertainty, is redundant, will limit growth and unnecessarily result in production cuts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2025.