NDP hopeful Ashton clarifies stance on tanker ban reversal but still gets nod from Danielle Smith

OTTAWA — NDP leadership hopeful Rob Ashton qualified his support for reversing the federal tanker ban on Wednesday night, yet still won a shout-out from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

Ashton said in a late-night social media post that he wanted to be clear about his stance on the moratorium on northwest tanker traffic after making comments about it to National Post earlier in the day.

“My position is clear: no project should move forward without Indigenous consent, community support, and strong environmental protections. Canada needs to have honest, responsible conversations about how we move energy safely, especially when communities and Indigenous nations are directly involved,” wrote Ashton.

“Whether we’re talking about tankers, trucks, rail, or pipelines, the priority must always be the same: protecting workers, protecting the environment, and making sure no community is left out of the conversation. These are complicated issues, and pretending otherwise doesn’t serve anyone,” he added.

Hours earlier, the National Post broke the news that Ashton was the first NDP leadership candidate to open the door to reversing the tanker ban, provided the move has the support of both the public and Indigenous communities, and safeguards are in place to ship oil safely.

Ashton wasn’t asked about the story at Wednesday’s leadership candidates’ forum in Ottawa, hosted by the Canadian Labour Congress, and sat out a post-event media scrum .

Ashton’s further clarified his position in a second statement, sent to the National Post on Thursday afternoon.

“Let’s be clear — this is all still very hypothetical. There’s no such project on the table and I’m not saying I’ll remove the ban. What I am saying is this: we’re in a trade war with the U.S. and we’ve got to look at every option available to protect Canadian jobs and Canadian workers. That’s our responsibility,” said Ashton.

He added that “the climate crisis is real” and policymakers “need to make sure that climate action creates good jobs, not take them away.”

One person who’d been following the developments was Smith, who happened to be speaking remotely at the House of Commons environment committee on Thursday.

Smith told the committee that she hoped Ashton’s comments signalled an emerging consensus in favour of getting more Canadian oil to new markets.

“I was pleased to see one of the NDP leadership candidates is also opposed to the continued tanker ban. And I think that’s where we have to get to, is that we should be able to, regardless of what our political stripe is, support each other in developing our projects,” said Smith.

Smith announced earlier this month that the Alberta government would act as the initial proponent of a new heavy oil pipeline to B.C.’s North Coast , which she says could export a million barrels of product a day to markets in Asia.

The project has virtually no chance of moving forward without a reversal of the federal moratorium on North Coast tanker traffic, issued in late 2015 to fulfill a Liberal campaign promise.

B.C. Premier David Eby has said he opposes lifting the ban, citing both ecological risks and the provincial government’s delicate resource development partnerships with coastal First Nations.

The respective campaigns of Ashton’s leadership rivals Avi Lewis and Heather McPherson didn’t respond to inquiries about his tanker ban comments.

Unsanctioned NDP leadership candidate Yves Engler said in a reply to Ashton’s post that he firmly opposed any new oil and gas projects.

“My position is clear: shut down the tar sands, repurpose pipelines, no new LNG projects & strengthen the tanker ban,” said Engler.

Ashton, a B.C.-based dockworker and union leader has been touted by NDP insiders as a serious contender to win the leadership race, with the party looking to reconnect with its traditional labour base.

Progressive commentator Evan Scrimshaw said that Ashton’s musings on a tanker ban reversal couldn’t hurt the party, given that it has nowhere to go but up.

“Given the scale of defeat the NDP suffered in April, they have to be willing to at least consider abandoning previous policies. If every Singh policy gets turned into a progressive Shibboleth, the country will decide nothing has changed,” said Scrimshaw.

The NDP had its worst result ever in April’s federal election, winning just seven seats and 6.3 per cent of the popular vote.

The new NDP leader will be named on Mar. 29, 2026, at the party’s next convention in Winnipeg.

National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com

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