Jim Carr, natural resources minister, says Liberals will get oil, gas to tidewater

OTTAWA — Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr acknowledges there's considerable urgency to building new Canadian pipeline capacity to tidewater, even as new roadblocks continue to appear.

A B.C. Supreme Court ruling this week and discouraging signals from B.C.'s provincial government have further undermined the prospects of two proposed oil pipelines to the Pacific coast, just as Carr is taking part in intense briefings on his new portfolio in Justin Trudeau's Liberal government.

Carr's mandate includes expanding Canada's market access for oil and gas — a highly polarizing public policy debate — and his challenge comes amid a global oil glut that is cratering international prices and killing investment in Alberta's oilpatch.

"Believe me, nobody is lollygagging," Carr told The Canadian Press in an interview this week from Winnipeg.

"We understand the importance of the moment ... and I also understand the opportunity. So we're working intensely and collaboratively across the government and we're determined to get it right in a timely way."