The timing of a joint announcement on child care funding from the provincial and federal governments is raising eyebrows among critics.

The funding announcement was made the day after Premier John Horgan backed down on controversial regulations aimed at hurting Kinder Morgan's pipeline plans.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Ottawa would give B.C. $150 million over three years for the creation of new child care spaces. But the funding announcement was delayed right as the dispute with Alberta was heating up.

Horgan said it was a scheduling issue, but the Opposition pointed out that the federal Liberals weren't happy with B.C. proposing to limit how much bitumen can flow through an Ottawa-approved pipeline. Alberta wasn't happy either, banning B.C. wine imports and threatening further sanctions.

Then, two hours after Horgan announced B.C. would seek clarifications on the legality of its pipeline opposition in the courts, the child care announcement was back on.

"Our understanding is there's a glitch in scheduling. We've been working on this agreement since we formed government in July," said Katrine Conroy, minister of children and families.

The scheduling explanation was echoed by Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson.

While both levels of government deny a link to the pipeline dispute, questions linger about the timing.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Bhinder Sajan