Economy 12 Years and $34 Billion Later, Canada's Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Is Set To Complete.

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With B.C.’s attack on Alberta oil, the war of mutual destruction begins
By Jason Markusoff | Jan 31, 2018​

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Rachel Notley and John Horgan​


If there’s one thing B.C. environmentalists aren’t well known for, it’s providing investor tips.

But when the B.C. government announced this week plans to bar increases to diluted bitumen (oil sands crude) shipments while it launches a new panel study of spill research, the group Stand.earth advised Kinder Morgan investors to call their brokers because this will delay or permanently thwart the company’s federally approved Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

John Horgan’s NDP government had promised to use “every tool in the toolbox” to stop the $7.4-billion project, and Horgan seems to believe he’s found a particularly pointy one—though potential Alberta-B.C. trade war may ensue. (Eco-groups will supplement with what tools of persuasion they have as well; just don’t rely on them for wisdom on bond yields.)

B.C.’s oil-safety proposal may have given another category of investors cause to gulp as well.

While all the activism and heated government rhetoric has concerned pipelines, B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman has made clear his proposed moratorium on added bitumen transportation would apply to rail shipments, too.

After all, in the decade of the anti-oil sands proxy war known as the pipeline debate, the truly realized hazard in Canada was train transport, as Lac-Megantic, Que., learned with tragic consequences. Finally, with this contentious move, the environmental left has seen action upon that reality.

On one level, the rail-by-oil manoeuvre is pragmatic. In its bid to block flows of diluted bitumen, the Horgan government is relying on a B.C. Environmental Management Act provision to regulate transport of harmful substances, and the province may be on shaky legal ground if it restricts one transportation mode and not another. This also poses a sort of double jeopardy for Alberta’s energy sector, whose industrial and political leaders have long maintained that any oil sands supply bottlenecks created by insufficient pipeline capacity would be offset by higher rail traffic.

By capping oil-by-rail traffic in the province while the proposed panel goes over the spill science, the B.C. New Democrats squeeze off pipelines and companies’ backup shipping plan. And even though these are merely proposed restrictions for now—it’s hard to test the constitutionality of a press release, one environmental law academic noted—they could well become a second front in the ongoing battle against transporting bitumen across rivers, alongside lakes and toward oceans. At the very least, there’s intellectual consistency in cracking down on the more historically spill-prone mode, as well as pipelines.

All of which threatens to leave Alberta’s most precious resource—sorry, children of Alberta—landlocked yet again. The gap between what markets pay for light Texas crude and Alberta’s heavy blend has risen to $30 US per barrel from $10 last year, largely because of the pipeline capacity crunch.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has blasted the B.C. plan as an “unconstitutional attack on jobs,” though she’s merely hinted at what her own “tools in the toolbox” ploy will be. She mused about legal challenges and economic measures, particularly on electricity trade.

Here’s what that could entail: calling off talks to buy more B.C. hydro supply to offset the shuttering of Alberta’s coal plants. This would hamper the Horgan government’s revenue, while depriving Alberta of a reliable, low-cost power source that would help tame price hikes.

In most trade wars, everyone loses. At British Columbia’s end, a cancelled pipeline means thousands of construction jobs would be lost. Jason Kenney, Alberta’s opposition leader, has pitched curtailing refined oil shipments to B.C. in retaliation, which would hurt Vancouver drivers and Edmonton-area refineries alike. In embittered Alberta, there are even grumblings about blocking B.C. wines as turnabout, an idea surely initiated by Albertans for Punishing Themselves.

On the pipeline, the B.C. NDP is trying to fulfil an election promise made last year. The Alberta NDP is trying to ensure there’s a project worth boasting about during its election next year. And both wait to see what, if any actions the federal Liberals take over an oil sands pipeline they’ve championed and a coast they’ve vowed to protect, along with electorates in two provinces with profoundly different priorities.
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http://www.macleans.ca/economy/with...oil-the-war-of-mutual-destruction-begins/amp/
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Alberta premier tells B.C. to stop opposing pipelines if they don't want high gas prices

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CALGARY -- Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says if British Columbia wants to keep gasoline prices low it should stop opposing the Kinder Morgan oil pipeline expansion.

B.C. Premier John Horgan said Thursday he would like to see the federal government step in to deal with high gas prices.

"I would certainly love to see the federal government take some leadership in this regard," Horgan said in Victoria.

"And the Kinder Morgan proposal, as it currently is constructed, will not bring down ... gas prices. It will send diluted bitumen to another jurisdiction."

Notley said Horgan's position on gas prices is ironic.

"I think that there are a lot of ways in which the province of B.C. can assure an adequate supply of gasoline in order to combat the ridiculous prices that they pay," she said Friday in Calgary.

"I think the best way to do that is to allow for the kind of open and smart trade between provinces that would facilitate that and it would include increasing the ability of Alberta to ship more product to the west."

Kinder Morgan Canada's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion would triple the amount of crude flowing from Alberta to a port facility in Burnaby, B.C.

The federal government approved the expansion in 2016 but the project faces significant opposition in B.C. Thousands of people have been rallying to protest the project and Horgan has raised concerns about the pipeline's possible environmental and economic impact.

Horgan has asked for a legal ruling on whether his province can restrict increased amounts of oil from coming into B.C. while his government reviews oil-spill safety measures.

Alberta imposed a short-lived ban on B.C. wine and Notley has suggested she will introduce legislation in the coming weeks to give her the power to curtail oil shipments to B.C. in retaliation.

Notley also slammed the B.C. government for a plan to offer tax incentives, including relief from the provincial sales tax, for construction of liquefied natural gas projects.

Horgan announced the proposed subsidies ahead of a final investment decision on LNG Canada's $40-billion project which would include building a natural gas pipeline from northeast B.C. to a new terminal on the coast.

That smacks of environmental hypocrisy, Notley said. B.C. can't have one set of environmental rules for itself and another for Alberta, she said.

The B.C. government has shown it's possible to balance environmental responsibility with economic prosperity, Notley said.

"They discovered that with LNG and I would suggest they apply the same lens to the work that we're trying to do with Kinder Morgan."

Alberta Opposition United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney laughed when asked about Horgan's concerns about high gasoline prices.

"You can't make this stuff up. It's like comedy hour coming out of Victoria. They're trying to shut down their major source of oil. They are increasing their carbon tax while telling ordinary British Columbians they're concerned about high gas prices?" he said.

"I just can't believe how stupid that remark is coming from the premier of British Columbia."
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https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/alber...-if-they-don-t-want-high-gas-prices-1.3856134
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Shock and oil: Alberta premier threatens to turn off taps in B.C. dispute
By Dean Bennett in News, Energy, Politics | March 10th 2018

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Alberta Premier Rachel Notley speaks to media before the Speech from the Throne, in Edmonton on Thursday, March 8, 2018.​

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is threatening to turn off the oil taps in a fight with British Columbia over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Notley won't say if she would cut off B.C. or the rest of Canada — or both — but says her government is ready to pass legislation to make it happen.

"Our key focus is getting people's attention on the matter," Notley told a news conference Thursday prior to the speech from the throne to open the next session of the legislature.

"We're not interested in creating any kind of crisis in any way, shape or form. We're going to be measured. We're going to be careful."

The $7.9-billion pipeline expansion would triple the amount of Alberta crude going from Edmonton to the port in Burnaby.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government approved the Kinder Morgan project in 2016, but the pipeline has since faced permit fights and challenges from the B.C. government.

Alberta has already imposed and pulled back on a ban of wine from B.C., but Notley said the government will not stand for further delays and harassment.

She said the project is vital to Alberta and to the rest of Canada, and the country is forgoing thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in lost revenue due to pipeline bottlenecks.

"There are many tools that we also have between our previous wine ban and this tool," said Notley.

"All we are doing is making sure that our tools are at the ready, because it is important for Albertans to understand that we are going to stand up to protect the interests of Albertans on this matter."

Notley said the province is looking at taking action on oil and natural gas.

Each day, Alberta currently exports 44,000 barrels per day of gasoline and 47,000 barrels of diesel to B.C., representing more than 20 per cent of its total production.

Alberta exports 2.4 billion cubic feet per day of marketable natural gas to B.C. per day, representing one quarter of its production. About 17 per cent of those exports are used by B.C., with the rest going to the United States.

Notley's announcement echoes action taken in 1980 by former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed in a showdown with the federal government.

Lougheed announced phased cuts to oil flows amounting to 15 per cent over nine months as well as the cancellation of two large oilsands developments after Pierre Trudeau's Liberals brought in the national energy program with its price controls, new taxes, and revenue sharing.

The two sides brokered a compromise after Lougheed turned off the taps.

B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman responded to Notley by saying the province will continue to defend its interests when it comes to protecting the environment.

"I see no reason for the government of Alberta to take any action when all B.C. has been doing is standing up for our interests," he said in Victoria.

"We're proposing some regulations that are well within our jurisdiction. We're determined to defend our environment, our economy and our coast line."

Heyman said B.C. would expect the dispute to be settled in court.

"We've tried to be the adults in the room here," said Heyman.

Alberta Opposition United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney has been pushing Notley for weeks to take a tougher stance with pipeline opponents, including revisiting Lougheed's moves.

"(This) is exactly the strategy I advocated since Day One. And the premier mocked and ridiculed that idea right up until the last few days," said Kenney.

"We're setting the agenda and they're responding."

Notley brought in a ban on B.C. wine in early February after B.C. Premier John Horgan's government announced it would not allow increased oil shipments through the province until it had reviewed oil spill safety.

Notley lifted the ban on Feb. 22 after Horgan said his government would not block extra oil while it asked the courts to determine if B.C. has the authority to take the action it was planning.

Notley and the federal government have stated that the law is clear and Ottawa alone has ultimate jurisdiction on interprovincial pipelines.
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https://www.nationalobserver.com/20...lberta-premier-threatens-turn-taps-bc-dispute


Saskatchewan would support Alberta's decision to turn off oil taps
Premier Scott Moe says Saskatchewan won't help source oil for Canada if Alberta decides to cut supply

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Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says his province will stand by Alberta if it decides to turn off the oil taps.​

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he'll stand by Alberta if the province decides to restrict oil exports to pressure British Columbia to abandon its opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

Moe said he would "absolutely" encourage Rachel Notley, his Alberta counterpart, to cut off domestic exports of its oil.

"If the fuel tanks start to run dry because Premier Notley has turned the tap off, it won't be Saskatchewan filling them up," the premier told CBC Radio's The House.

Though Saskatchewan isn't connected to Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline, the delays in getting the $7.4 billion expansion completed are affecting rail shipments of grain and other products in and out of the province because a lot of oil is moving by train, Moe said.

In early February, B.C. Premier John Horgan proposed restrictions on bitumen shipments that would flow through the expanded pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast. In response, Premier Notley pulled Alberta back from purchasing hydro power and wine from its western neighbour.

B.C. is asking the courts to decide if it has the power to limit how much diluted bitumen can flow through pipelines in the province.

The war escalated a few weeks later when Notley floated the idea of cutting oil shipments from Alberta entirely.

Though the issue revolves around the two westernmost provinces, Moe said he'd back Notley if she decided to cut oil supplies to any market.

"I think she can turn them off to wherever she has access to until we ensure that this pipeline that has been approved by our federal government is starting construction."

Federal government slow to intervene

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has vowed to stand his ground on the expansion, saying it will be built.

"We're just going to reiterate that the decision we made was in the national interest and we're going to move forward with that decision, which means we're going to get the Trans Mountain pipeline built," he said.

But there has been no action since that statement in February — and words alone aren't enough for Notley.

The company said it will consult with “various stakeholders” to try and reach an agreement by May 31 that might allow the project to proceed, adding it needs “clarity” on its ability to do construction in B.C. and protect its shareholders.

“As KML has repeatedly stated, we will be judicious in our use of shareholder funds. In keeping with that commitment, we have determined that in the current environment, we will not put KML shareholders at risk on the remaining project spend,” Steve Kean, the company’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

“A company cannot resolve differences between governments. While we have succeeded in all legal challenges to date, a company cannot litigate its way to an in-service pipeline amidst jurisdictional differences between governments.”

Kean said the uncertainty around the company’s ability to finish the project “leads us to the conclusion that we should protect the value that KML has, rather than risking billions of dollars on an outcome that is outside of our control.”

Kinder Morgan has spent about $1.1 billion on the $7.4-billion project so far.

Horgan said he spoke with Kinder Morgan president Ian Anderson, who told him the project has been “unnecessarily harassed” by British Columbia.“I told him I disagreed,” Horgan said.

The B.C. premier said he also spoke to Trudeau and planned to speak to Notley, but his position on the pipeline hasn’t changed.

“I want to say to all Canadians that I profoundly believe in the rights of British Columbians to stand up and make sure that we’re doing everything we can to protect the interests of our province,” he told a news conference in Victoria Sunday. “I don’t want to do that in a provocative way. I don’t want any threats, I don’t want any ultimatums and I believe other governments should follow suit.”

She has said Trudeau should explicitly tell B.C.'s government that its attempts to stall the pipeline expansion are unacceptable, and should be ready to intervene if necessary.

"If Canada wants to present itself to the world as a country that is capable of creating jobs and attracting investments, then it needs to be able to present itself as a country that, when a decision is made, people can count on it to be implemented," Notley said.

Moe agreed.

"The federal government does need to step up. This is their responsibility."
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/saskatchewan-alberta-bc-pipeline-trans-mountain-expansion-1.4580650
 
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Kinder Morgan suspends 'non-essential activities' on Trans Mountain Pipeline
April 8, 2018

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Kinder Morgan Canada says it is suspending all non-essential activities and related spending on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project in the face of continued opposition from the B.C. government.

The company issued a release on Sunday saying that it would be focussing all its efforts on consulting with stakeholders to reach an agreement on May 31 that would allow Trans Mountain work to proceed.

Kinder Morgan says the focus in discussions will be in two areas: clarity going forward, particularly on the ability to build the pipeline in B.C. and adequate protection for its shareholders.

Trans Mountain has been federally approved but has faced continued resistance in British Columbia, particularly since the Horgan government came into power in June 2017, the company says.

"A company cannot resolve differences between governments. While we have succeeded in all legal challenges to date, a company cannot litigate its way to an in-service pipeline amidst jurisdictional differences between governments," said Kinder Morgan's chairman and CEO Steve Kean in a release.

"The fact remains that a substantial portion of the Project must be constructed through British Columbia, and since the change in government in June 2017, that government has been clear and public in its intention to use 'every tool in the toolbox' to stop the Project. The uncertainty created by BC has not been resolved but instead has escalated into an inter-governmental dispute."

Speaking from the Legislature on Sunday, Premier Rachel Notley again called on the federal government to do more in regards to the issue and B.C.'s resistance to the federally-approved project.

"Today, Minister Carr has called on the government of British Columbia to suspend all threats related to the Trans Mountain expansion. Those are strong words, but we need more."

Notley promised that Alberta would be bringing forward more legislation in the coming days to give Alberta the power it needs to bring serious economic consequences on B.C.

She says that she is not ruling out the possibility that Alberta will take a more public role in the matter, which means that her government would take steps to become a shareholder in the Trans Mountain Expansion Project.

"That can look a lot of different ways, the form that that would take. We have been doing work already on what that would look like. All I will say at this point is if we need investors who put money on the table to be deeply confident, what I am telling you is that there are investors out there who would put money on the table who will be deeply confident."

She says discussions on that option as well as many others are still ongoing, but she remains optimistic that the project will be built no matter the number of hurdles are put up in its path.

"Never count Alberta out. This pipeline will be built."
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https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/kinder-m...tivities-on-trans-mountain-pipeline-1.3876418
 
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Suspension of Trans Mountain pipeline spending creates tensions between B.C and Alberta
April 8, 2018

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A man holds a sign while listening as other protesters opposed to the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline extension defy a court order and block an entrance to the company's property, in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday April 7, 2018. The pipeline is set to increase the capacity of oil products flowing from Alberta to the B.C. coast to 890,000 barrels from 300,000 barrels.​

The future of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion was cast in doubt on Sunday as Kinder Morgan Canada suspended all non-essential activities and related spending on the project in the face of mounting opposition from British Columbia.

With the company citing its decision largely on the B.C. government’s legal challenges to the pipeline and the need to protect its shareholders, the federal and Alberta governments pushed Premier John Horgan to abandon his promise to do whatever his government can to stop the project.

“The government of Canada calls on Premier Horgan and the B.C. government to end all threats of delay to the Trans Mountain expansion,” federal Natural Resources

Minister Jim Carr said in a news release. “His government’s actions stand to harm the entire Canadian economy.”

In Edmonton, Premier Rachel Notley said Alberta would consider taking on an equity stake in the pipeline if Kinder Morgan investors are considering backing away.

“If we have to, Alberta is prepared to do whatever it takes to get this pipeline built,” said Notley, without discussing the dollar value of such an investment.

“Alberta is prepared to be an investor.”

Kinder Morgan’s move will be seen as a blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has insisted the pipeline will be built. The expansion, which would triple the amount of oil flowing from Alberta to Burnaby, B.C., was approved by the federal government in 2016.

The company said it will consult with “various stakeholders” to try and reach an agreement by May 31 that might allow the project to proceed, adding it needs “clarity” on its ability to do construction in B.C. and protect its shareholders.

“As KML has repeatedly stated, we will be judicious in our use of shareholder funds. In keeping with that commitment, we have determined that in the current environment, we will not put KML shareholders at risk on the remaining project spend,” Steve Kean, the company’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

“A company cannot resolve differences between governments. While we have succeeded in all legal challenges to date, a company cannot litigate its way to an in-service pipeline amidst jurisdictional differences between governments.”

Kean said the uncertainty around the company’s ability to finish the project “leads us to the conclusion that we should protect the value that KML has, rather than risking billions of dollars on an outcome that is outside of our control.”

Kinder Morgan has spent about $1.1 billion on the $7.4-billion project so far.

Horgan said he spoke with Kinder Morgan president Ian Anderson, who told him the project has been “unnecessarily harassed” by British Columbia.“I told him I disagreed,” Horgan said.

The B.C. premier said he also spoke to Trudeau and planned to speak to Notley, but his position on the pipeline hasn’t changed.

“I want to say to all Canadians that I profoundly believe in the rights of British Columbians to stand up and make sure that we’re doing everything we can to protect the interests of our province,” he told a news conference in Victoria Sunday. “I don’t want to do that in a provocative way. I don’t want any threats, I don’t want any ultimatums and I believe other governments should follow suit.”

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Horgan is pursuing a reference case in the courts to determine if his government can control the shipment of oil through the province on environmental grounds, which Kinder Morgan mentioned as a factor in its decision.

“Rather than achieving greater clarity, the project is now facing unquantifiable risk,” the company said in its statement.

There is also another legal challenge in the Federal Court of Appeal, where the federal government’s approval and B.C.’s environmental assessment certificate for the project are being challenged.

A federal government official speaking on background told The Canadian Press the timing of the announcement has more to do with construction schedules than a specific event in recent days. Kinder Morgan has to get construction of the pipeline underway by the end of May or it will likely lose out on another construction season, which adds significant costs and threatens to further fray investor nerves.

Carr said the government was given a heads up Saturday afternoon that the decision was coming, which prompted him to return to Ottawa from New York.

He said it wasn’t expected, but his office was aware the delays and uncertainty posed by British Columbia’s threats were having an impact.

“We knew that their investors were getting nervous,” said Carr in an interview.

He criticized British Columbia, saying the province’s “threat of prolonged court action has consequences” not just for Canada but for B.C. as well.

He noted the B.C. economy is heavily dependent on natural resources — be it oil, natural gas, wood products or mining — and scaring off Kinder Morgan investors could have long-term consequences on British Columbia’s ability to attract investment elsewhere.

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“It is not in the interests of the B.C. government for investors to think B.C. is not a good place to invest,” Carr said. “There are consequences to those actions and we’re seeing those consequences.”

The project has become a major irritant in the relationship between Alberta and B.C., with Alberta going as far as banning the import of wines from its neighbour for a period of time.

On Sunday, Notley also described the B.C. government’s position as short-sighted.

“If I was a resident of B.C., I would be very worried about what this says about the investment climate in British Columbia,” she told a news conference at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton. “How can the economy of British Columbia be built when every private investor considering a project must weigh the risk that the provincial government will conduct itself in the way that it has on this matter?”

Notley called on Trudeau to take more “concrete action” to get the pipeline built, adding that legislation is coming in the next few days to give her the power to turn down the taps on oil headed to B.C. Other retaliatory actions, such as a renewed ban on B.C. wine, are also being contemplated, she said.

Horgan played down suggestions B.C. is scaring off potential investors for future projects.

“Our economy is going along just fine,” he told the Sunday news conference in Victoria. “Private sector investment is happening every day and I’m confident that will continue to happen. We are open for business. This is a great place to invest and it wil continue to be.”

Trudeau has argued it is possible to balance the interests of both the economy and the environment in pushing for the pipeline’s expansion. The prime minister made that argument on Friday when he visited Fort McMurray, Alta.

Still, protesters have said the expansion would increase the risk of oil spills in the Burrard Inlet, and that completing it would mean the federal government will not be able to meet its commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions by another 200 million tonnes per year by 2030.

Opposition to the pipeline has ramped up in recent weeks, with about 200 people arrested near the Burnaby marine terminal in the last month.

Groups opposed to the project said Sunday’s announcement should be the beginning of the end of the pipeline expansion.

“Clearly, investors have lost confidence in this project and are waking up to the reality that the Kinder Morgan pipeline will never be built,” said Sven Biggs, energy and climate campaigner for Stand.earth.
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http://nationalpost.com/news/suspen...ates-tensions-between-b-c-and-alberta-federal
 
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'They can't mess with Alberta': Notley promises consequences for B.C. over latest Trans Mountain setback
The $7.4-billion Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion may be scrapped entirely unless agreements can be reached by May 31 to resolve “uncertainty” created by the opposition of the B.C. government

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The Alberta government is prepared to buy a stake of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to ensure it gets built, Premier Rachel Notley said Sunday.

In a rare show of being on the same page, United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney agrees.

The $7.4-billion Kinder Morgan project may be scrapped entirely unless agreements can be reached by May 31 to resolve uncertainty created by British Columbian government opposition to the project, the company announced Sunday.

In a news release, Kinder Morgan said without an agreement in place, “it is difficult to conceive of any scenario in which we would proceed with the project.”

Notley came out swinging late Sunday afternoon, her comments aimed squarely at B.C. Premier John Horgan.

It wasn’t wrath — she’s not even angry, she said, just calmly trying to get on with the job at hand — but it was a direct message.

Horgan may think he can harass the project without economic consequences for his province, Notley said, “but he is wrong.”

Her government will introduce legislation to turn off the taps to B.C. in the coming days, she said, giving Alberta the power to impose serious economic consequences on the province should it continue on its present course.

And if Horgan thinks he can mess with the project via legal means, Notley says, he’s wrong again.

“Let me be absolutely clear — they cannot mess with Alberta,” she said, adding her government is prepared to invest public money in the pipeline project.

“If we take that step, we will be a significantly more determined investor than British Columbia has dealt with up to this point,” Notley warned.

“Never count Alberta out. This pipeline will be built.”

Non-essential pipeline spending halted
For now, the company said all non-essential spending on the expansion project has been suspended to protect shareholder interests while consultations are held to provide clarity on the firm’s ability to construct through British Columbia.

The company needs to protect its value, chairman and chief executive officer Steve Kean said, rather than risk billions of dollars on an outcome outside of its control.

“A company cannot resolve differences between governments. While we have succeeded in all legal challenges to date, a company cannot litigate its way to an in-service pipeline amidst jurisdictional differences between governments,” the release said.

Kinder Morgan’s move is the latest development among myriad political and legal wrangling over the Trans Mountain project, which was approved in 2016 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Notley and Kenney both want Trudeau to step up and take concrete actions to support the pipeline, echoing sentiments they have thrown at Ottawa for months.

“We are calling on the federal government to work in the defence of Alberta and working people in Western Canada in the way they have in the past for other parts of this country,” Notley said Sunday, pointing to the assistance Ottawa provided Ontario during the auto crisis, and to Quebec when aerospace needed a bailout.

“Federal approval of a project must we worth more than the paper it’s written on.”

Kenney called Sunday’s development “frustrating and predictable.”

The federal government approved the Trans Mountain project using its constitutional authority, he said, but that government has “stood by passively uttering meaningless bromides for the past nine months.”

“Now is the time for federal action. It is time for the federal government to act like a federal government, for our prime minister to lead like a prime minister should — in the national interest,” Kenney said.

As for buying into the pipeline expansion, Kenney is on board if Ottawa also comes to the table.

“I am philosophically opposed to corporate welfare, but when there is a major market failure … there is a compelling case for the state to come forward, using its credit, its financial leverage, to ensure economic progress. I believe this is such an instance,” he said.

Horgan denies project harassment
Trudeau said during a recent trip to Fort McMurray that the pipeline would get built. On Sunday, federal Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr issued a statement saying the project is in Canada’s national interests.

Carr also called on Horgan to end all threats of delay to the Trans Mountain expansion.

“His government’s actions stand to harm the entire Canadian economy,” Carr stated. “Our government stands behind this project and has the jurisdiction in this matter.”

Although the project has the support of the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments, Horgan — who took power last spring with backing from the province’s Green party — has vowed to use every tool at his disposal to block it.

At a news conference Sunday, Horgan said the interests of Texas boardrooms are not the interests of British Columbians.

He denied his government has been harassing the project, adding he has told Trudeau that he doesn’t think the pipeline expansion is in the national interest.

“It’s been said we are somehow compromising the climate action plan for the country and I profoundly disagree with that,” Horgan said.

“I reject the notion that somehow our opposition to risk to our coast and our economy is somehow tied to the national climate plan.”

He also dismissed any suggestion that his government’s position could lead to a constitutional crisis.

But the stance of Horgan’s government has helped to create “unquantifiable risk,” Kinder Morgan said in its statement Sunday, and it’s unclear if some of the province’s obstructive actions can succeed.

“Unfortunately B.C. has now been asserting broad jurisdiction and reiterating its intention to use that jurisdiction to stop the project,” the company said. “B.C.’s intention in that regard has been neither validated nor quashed, and the province has continued to threaten unspecified additional actions to prevent project success.”
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http://edmontonjournal.com/news/pol...-essential-spending-on-trans-mountain-project
 
Canada at war. Citizens sufffer higher prices. Sad.
 
lifelessheap said:
Canada at war. Citizens sufffer higher prices. Sad.
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If this project fails due to BC's tantrum, Canada gonna suffer a hell lot more than just "high prices". It also mean your Federal government's Constitutional rights don't actually mean anything, if provincial governments can just ignore it at will.

The more I read into Canadian politics, the more I'm surprised that perpetually-pampered Quebec was the province who demanded secession and not the consistently-shafted Alberta. Their tax dollars provides $12 billion in "equalization" subsidy to other provinces every year, yet all they got back are hostilities and contempt.

If Alberta ever want to leave all that bullshit behind and join the U.S as the 51st state, I'd welcome them with open arms.

PS: Just saw this epic rant by an Albertan:

 
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Arkain2K said:
If this project fails due to BC's tantrum, the Canadian economy gonna suffer a hell lot more than just "high prices".

The more I read into Canadian politics, the more I'm surprised that perpetually-pampered Quebec was the province who demanded secession and not the consistently-shafted Alberta.

They're responsible for half of the country's GDP and their tax dollars provides $12 billion in "equalization" subsidy to other provinces every year, yet all they got back are hostilities and contempt.

If Alberta ever want to leave all that bullshit behind and join the U.S as the 51st state, I'd welcome them with open arms.

PS: Just saw this epic rant by an Albertan:

Click to expand...


No, they're not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_provinces_and_territories_by_gross_domestic_product
 
Trans Mountain is now an economic and constitutional disaster
April 8, 2018

LHH4BDL5GJMZ5BAWJQP3WJKJOM.JPG

Thousands of people march together during a protest against the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday March 10, 2018.
​

Kinder Morgan’s announcement that it is suspending all non-essential spending on the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline is nothing short of an economic and constitutional disaster for Canada.

It was and still is critically important that this pipeline expansion go forward, and not just because it will finally give Alberta’s landlocked oil producers a safe way to transport their crude and refined petroleum products to tidewater and then on to foreign markets by tanker.

As important as that is, the more pressing issue is one of jurisdiction. It is the federal government’s constitutional right to approve the transport of energy resources across provincial borders, which it did in the case of Trans Mountain after the National Energy Board carried out a proper review of the project.

Ottawa can’t allow a provincial government to usurp its authority, as the British Columbia government is attempting to do by carrying out a guerrilla war against Trans Mountain. The NDP government has repeatedly thrown invented roadblocks in the path of Kinder Morgan, bringing us to where we are today.

Even more egregious is the B.C. government’s naked hypocrisy. Since taking power last summer, it has used its stated desire to protect the environment as a reason for delaying Trans Mountain. At the same time, however, it is supporting the development of the province’s natural-gas reserves, offering tax breaks to a $40-billion project that includes, wait for it, a new pipeline and a new tanker terminal on the B.C. coast.

The message is clear: British Columbia will develop its lucrative fossil-fuel resources while stonewalling Alberta’s in the name of the environment. And it will do it while ignoring the Constitution.

The federal government cannot let this stand. It must use whatever tools it has, courts included, to re-establish its jurisdiction and get Trans Mountain back on track.

To do otherwise threatens the basic tenets of confederation. A province cannot use underhanded tactics to effectively seize control of the development of this country’s resources. And it especially cannot do it in the name of environmental principles it only adheres to when it is in its political interest, but abandons when it sees a dollar in it.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opi...vernments-pipeline-hypocrisy-could-come-back/
 
Trudeau has to do something more than tweet about this shit. It's developing into a crisis under his watch. This should be settled by now.
 
Pipelines always leak. I wouldn't want one anywhere near water or forests.
 
Prokofievian said:
Trudeau has to do something more than tweet about this shit. It's developing into a crisis under his watch. This should be settled by now.
Click to expand...

Trudeau will not do anything besides taking a few selfies and talking out of his ass. The guy has done nothing except embarrass himself for three years. There is no indication that PM Zoolander will suddenly get his shit together and do something useful.
 
So BC wants the oil and gas but doesn't want the pipe line to carry it .

So but it in someone else's back yard but we still want the product.

So turn off the supply and they can all get back to nature.
 
bufetadanacara said:
He's busy choosing his outfit for the protest rally.
Click to expand...

Devout Pessimist said:
Trudeau will not do anything besides taking a few selfies and talking out of his ass. The guy has done nothing except embarrass himself for three years. There is no indication that PM Zoolander will suddenly get his shit together and do something useful.
Click to expand...

There's not a strong argument to be made against these claims.

There's just been nothing of import done by his government.
 
Fucking BC liberals missed a majority government by like one fucking seat and the NDP/Green coalition swoops into power, completely fucking over Alberta. God damn it.
 
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