FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JULY 6, 2026 

KINGSTON, ON — Today, MPP Ted Hsu, Ontario Liberal Critic for Energy and Natural Resources, issued the following statement regarding Doug Ford and Danielle Smith’s Alberta-Ontario pipeline announcement. 

At the Calgary Stampede, today’s pipeline announcement felt like just another sideshow at the rodeo. 

We just watched Doug Ford and Danielle Smith unveil a pipeline route before completing its feasibility study, before consultations with Indigenous communities have concluded, and before Manitoba has even determined whether it wants to participate. 

Doug Ford acts like those are just a few loose ends, but they are the very questions that determine whether a project like this can move forward. Celebrating a route proposal before answering those questions is premature. 

The government also failed to explain whether the project makes economic sense. Previous proposals like the Energy East pipeline depended on reaching tidewater and carrying very large volumes of crude to justify the enormous investment. This pipeline would stop in Sarnia and carry substantially less oil. That doesn’t mean it can’t work, but it does mean the government needs to explain why the economics are different this time. 

Where is the financial analysis? Where is the business case? Without those answers, today’s announcement looks more like a communications exercise than a credible infrastructure plan. 

If this pipeline can strengthen Canada’s energy security, support Canadian jobs, and stand on a sound commercial footing, it deserves consideration. But projects of this scale have to be built on evidence. 

Before asking Ontarians to buy into this project, the government should finish the work and publish the evidence that shows it can succeed.