Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is warning the federal government that the end of U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil could eliminate Canadian exports to the U.S. — and is urging the Liberals to “immediately agree to a pipeline to the Pacific Coast.”
In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on social media on Tuesday, Poilievre said the action taken by the United States over the weekend “changed the world’s power landscape.”
US President Donald Trump has ordered a military raid on the capital of Venezuela, where they kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to New York to face charges. Trump also made it clear that he plans to control the oil industry in the country and encourage American companies to revive the sector.
Canada and other democracies criticized Maduro after the 2018 and 2024 elections, which were seen as stolen, and after years of human rights abuses.
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Poilievre wrote that Canada was right to refuse to recognize the “illegitimate regime” and said it supports the right of the Venezuelan people to choose their own future.
He warned Venezuela’s heavy production could “quickly return to historic levels,” putting it in direct competition with Canada for space in US refineries focused on mass refining.
“Every barrel that the United States sources from Venezuela means one less barrel that Canada can buy. So we need new markets to sell to, and we need them fast,” he wrote.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves of about 303 billion barrels, according to the US Energy Information Administration – about 17 percent of all the world’s oil reserves.
Venezuela’s oil industry is in dire straits after years of neglect and international sanctions. Analysts say it could take years and significant investment before production ramps up significantly – but some believe the country could double or triple its current output of 1.1 million barrels a day soon.
Poilievre pointed out that Carney did not clearly support an oil pipeline on the West Coast of British Columbia and that many Liberal MPs opposed the idea.
The Liberals signed a memorandum of understanding with the Alberta government in November committing them to work on at least one offshore pipeline to get Alberta tar to Asian markets.
The agreement with Alberta states that those pipelines will be built and financed by private companies, with aboriginal communities receiving benefits and joint ownership.
The agreement also states that the application for the pipeline project will be ready to be sent to the office of major projects – the organization that the Carney government established at the beginning of its mandate to speed up the approval process of major infrastructure projects – on July 1.
In his letter, Poilievre wrote that the Conservatives are asking the government to commit to approving that project proposal within 60 days.
On Monday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a social media post that the events in Venezuela “underscore the importance that we accelerate the construction of pipelines that separate our oil export markets,” including the pipeline to the coast.
Smith said his government is working to submit an application to the Office of Capital Projects and “expects the federal government to move forward quickly.”
– Via files from the Associated Press
© 2026 The Canadian Press
