Court Strikes Down Ottawa's Pipeline Law. Again.
Ottawa got told no by the Supreme Court in 2023. It tinkered with the wording, put the same law back on the books, and dared Alberta to fight it again. Alberta did. On Friday, Ottawa lost again.
Alberta Radio News · Jason LaFace
Friday, October 9, 2026
What the court said
In a 4-1 opinion, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that the amended Impact Assessment Act, the law critics have long called the "no more pipelines act," still breaks the constitutional division of powers. The court found the designated-projects part of the law and its regulations are unconstitutional, except where they apply to federal undertakings.
The judges said Parliament took some steps to fix what the Supreme Court flagged, but not enough. The definition of "adverse effects within federal jurisdiction" still reaches past federal powers, and the law still lets Ottawa regulate a whole project on non-federal concerns. In the court's words, the scheme could let the federal government, "on the pretext of some narrow ground of federal jurisdiction," run "a far-ranging inquiry into matters that are exclusively within provincial jurisdiction." Ontario and Saskatchewan backed Alberta's challenge.
The reaction
Premier Danielle Smith called it "yet another big win for Alberta" and urged Ottawa to "accept this ruling, refrain from yet another appeal," and work with the provinces to clean up "this flawed Trudeau-era legislation once and for all." The federal environment minister's office said it is reviewing the decision and considering next steps, and called the act "fundamental" to its building agenda.
The take
Read that federal statement twice. A court has now told Ottawa twice that this law oversteps, and Ottawa's answer is that the law is fundamental. That is the whole problem in one sentence. The federal government doesn't see provincial jurisdiction as a line. It sees it as a speed bump.
Remember too that Pacific Link only moved after it was fast-tracked around a dozen federal laws. When the fix for a bad law is a special pass for hand-picked projects, the law is the problem. Every company that wants to build a mine, a plant or a pipeline in Alberta deserves the same certainty, not a ministerial favour.
Ten days before Albertans vote, the lesson is plain. Alberta wins when it stands its ground, in court and at the ballot box. Ottawa should drop the appeal talk and repeal C-69. If it won't, Albertans will remember who keeps trying to run this province's resources from Ottawa.
Source: Os1ris News Aggregation
