(EDMONTON, AB) October 24, 2025: Federal NDP leadership candidate Rob Ashton broke ranks with his party’s left flank this week, telling the National Post that he would be open to reversing the West Coast tanker ban. Ashton’s comments stand in stark contrast to Naheed Nenshi and the Alberta NDP, who continue to divide Albertans by refusing to support the West Coast pipeline and failing to take a position on the tanker ban blocking Alberta’s resources from reaching new markets.
“Rob Ashton’s comments prove that nation-building projects don’t have to be a partisan issue,” said Nolan Dyck, MLA for Grande Prairie. “A clear majority of Canadians, including a majority of British Columbians, support a new West Coast pipeline. It’s time for Nenshi and the Alberta NDP to stop trying to score political points and do what’s right for Canada.”
Meanwhile, the Alberta NDP promotes another federal NDP leadership candidate, MP Heather McPherson, whose record includes voting with Jagmeet Singh and Justin Trudeau to support the West Coast tanker ban. McPherson also claimed Alberta is “stuck looking backwards” with plans for a new pipeline.
When British Columbia NDP Premier David Eby dismissed the West Coast pipeline as “fictional” and claimed it makes “no financial or economic sense”, Edmonton-Rutherford NDP MLA Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse reposted a video of the statement on her TikTok account.
“Nenshi and the Alberta NDP should take a lesson from the few remaining working-class voices left in their party,” added Dyck. “They should join United Conservatives in supporting nation building projects, like the West Coast pipeline, that will end our dependence on a sole customer to the south. Everyone agrees that Canadians need to expand our markets, why can’t the Alberta NDP figure that out?”
United Conservatives are committed to supporting projects that create jobs, grow our economy, and make Canada stronger.
