Steel pipes to be used in the oil pipeline construction of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain expansion project sit on rail cars at a stockpile site in Kamloops, B.C. (Dennis Owen/REUTERS)

Six-in-ten Canadians say lack of new pipeline capacity represents a crisis: poll

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians believe that the lack of pipeline capacity to move oil from Western Canada to overseas markets constitutes a crisis for the country’s economy, according to a new poll from the Angus Reid Institute.

The research comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing increasing pressure to move faster and more forcefully to complete a new oil pipeline, with more than half of Canadians saying the Trudeau government has done “too little” to ensure new pipeline capacity is built.

The institute surveyed 4,024 Canadian adults between Dec. 21, 2018, and Jan. 3, 2019.

Seven-in-ten (69 per cent) Canadians say the country will face considerable impact if no new pipeline capacity is built.

Half of Canadians (53 per cent) say they support both the Energy East pipeline, the now defunct line from Hardisty, Alberta, to Saint John, New Brunswick, and the TransMountain pipeline expansion project, which pumps oil from Northern Alberta to the Pacific Coast near Burnaby, British Columbia.

One-in-five say they oppose both (19 per cent), while a handful support one or the other in isolation, the report said.

(Angus Reid Institute)

But this latest polling also finds strong regional disparities, with residents of Alberta overwhelmingly taking the view that the pipeline situation is a crisis (87 per cent). Where British Columbians are almost evenly divided, and the majority of Quebecers (60 per cent) take an opposite view.

The survey also revealed strong generational disparities.

It found the majority of Canadians ages 18 to 34 were not supportive of pipelines, while little more than half of those ages 35 to 54 were supportive, and those over the age of 55 expressed the most support for pipelines and labelled the lack of pipeline capacity a crisis.

Also the majority of people who thought the lack of pipeline capacity was a crisis had voted for the Conservative Party (87 per cent), with the Liberal supporters were almost evenly split on the issue, while the majority of New Democratic Party supporters (72 per cent) opposed calling the situation a crisis.

The survey also asked participants to choose the top two or three economic industries they feel are most critical to Canada.

Two-thirds said the oil and gas industry is most critical, while agriculture finished second with 52 per cent.

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