The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, Dec. 3, edition that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says a proposed new oil pipeline to the northern British Columbia coast would be as much as 50 per cent owned by indigenous groups. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that Ms. Smith's government plans to release the technical work by July 1 on a potential pipeline with a capacity of one million barrels a day running from Alberta to the coast. Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated support for the project in a memorandum of understanding he signed with Ms. Smith last Thursday. Ms. Smith speculated the pipeline might cost $20-billion and generate $2-billion a year in revenue. Ownership of oil and gas projects has been embraced by some indigenous communities in Canada, but others, including coastal nations in Northern B.C., have mostly rejected the idea of a new oil pipeline as too risky for the environment. Ottawa and Alberta operate programs that offer financial assistance, such as loan guarantees, to first nations interested in ownership of energy infrastructure. The planned pipeline has been criticized by B.C. Premier David Eby, who said relaxing a ban on oil tankers would be a "grave mistake."