Good morning.

By next May, Alberta’s hand-picked technical advisory group will send to Ottawa’s Major Projects Office an application for a pipeline to British Columbia’s northern coast.

The office is new, the technical advisory group is new, the decision by the Alberta provincial government to take the lead on the proposal − rather than leaving it to private industry − is also new.

The obstacles for getting such a project completed are decidedly not new.

The province is proposing a 42-inch-diametre pipeline extending to either Prince Rupert, B.C., or Kitimat, B.C., from Alberta. Among those on the technical advisory panel are executives from Enbridge, as well as South Bow Corp., and Trans Mountain Corp.

In 2016, the Federal Court of Appeal all but killed Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project, a 35-inch-diametre pipeline extending from Bruderheim, Alta., northeast of Edmonton, to Kitimat on British Columbia’s northern coast.

The court quashed the permit issued by the federal cabinet two years earlier, concluding the former Conservative government had fallen “well short of the mark” in its duty to consult First Nations prior to issuing a cabinet order approving the pipeline.

It was a major victory for seven coastal First Nations that led the court challenge, arguing their livelihood and marine environment would be put at risk in the event of a major oil spill.

After the court ruling, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau lived up to his election promise when his government passed into law a ban on marine tankers from picking up or delivering large quantities of crude oil on B.C.’s north coast. His government also passed the highly contentious Impact Assessment Act, which critics dubbed the no-more-pipelines bill.

All three of those hurdles remain − the tanker ban, the Impact Assessment Act, and meaningful consultation with Indigenous groups, including those vehemently opposed to the pipeline.

“Any potential proponents, including the Alberta government, need to be put on notice that we’re not prepared to accept any crude oil through our waters,” Marilyn Slett, elected Chief Councillor of the Heiltsuk Tribal Council and president of Coastal First Nations, said in an interview last week.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith gave B.C. Premier David Eby a heads-up last week that her announcement was coming.

But Mark Podlasly, CEO of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition, which advocates for Indigenous ownership in pipelines, critical minerals mines and other projects, questioned how much outreach the Alberta government has done with B.C. First Nations. He said his group was not contacted.

(Rajan Sawhney, Alberta’s Minister of Indigenous Relations, said last week she had been calling Indigenous leaders from Alberta and B.C. to describe the plan.)

Indigenous supporters for the new project appear to be exclusively from Alberta.

Dale Swampy is chief executive of the National Coalition of Chiefs, which advocates for oil and gas development. He was quoted as a validator in Alberta’s announcement news release and has called the most recent proposal “Northern Gateway 2.0.”

Chief Swampy, from the oil-rich Samson Cree Nation south of Edmonton, worked with Northern Gateway’s predecessor on Indigenous relations with B.C.

“Oil and gas participation, including ownership opportunities, can be a way to drive economic reconciliation,” he said in Alberta’s news release.

“We are especially happy that they have decided to engage with Indigenous nations in B.C. and Alberta right from the very beginning of the process.”

The province’s advisory group includes two Alberta leaders: Chief Jim Boucher of Fort McKay First Nation, who is also president and co-founder of the Saa Dene Group of Companies, and Dave Lamouche, president of the Métis Settlements General Council.

Menno Hulshof, analyst at TD Cowen, said Alberta is moving forward with the things they can control in the process.

“But the initial reaction from greater B.C. would suggest that this is going to be quite challenging.”

Smith put the federal government on notice that the success of the initiative will be “a test of whether Canada works as a country.”

To meet the test for her, Canada must reverse several environmental policies, including the ban on tanker traffic on the northern Pacific coast and the cap on oil and gas emissions.

Indigenous groups in British Columbia also see Alberta’s proposal as a test − one of whether Canada will live up to its commitments under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to “free, prior and informed consent.”

“Everything is negotiation,” said Mr. Hulshof. “It’s going to be interesting to see what concessions are made where, to the extent that you believe that this can even materialize.”

This is the weekly British Columbia newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.