NOTLEY AND CORRIGAN STAND AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF PIPELINE
Alberta premier and Burnaby mayor spar over project with big implications for all
To listen to Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan talk, the premier of Alberta is becoming a mouthpiece for the oil industry when it comes to promoting pipelines.
To listen to Rachel Notley talk, the City of Burnaby is “overreaching” and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion must be built to demonstrate Canada can make nation-building economic decisions.
A huge gulf lies between these two political leaders on the prickly issue of developing oil pipelines.
It illuminates the two solitudes that exist in the country today as we gear up for another round of debate over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion — even though the National Energy Board and federal cabinet already approved the $7.4-billion project with 157 conditions.
“I think she’s desperate, she’s got a lot of problems, she’s been co-opted by the oil industry — and that’s not surprising in Alberta — but she is losing her judgment,” Corrigan, the fiveterm mayor of Burnaby, said in an interview.
“In my opinion, the premier is being irresponsible in the comments she’s making.” Notley isn’t backing down. “What I am is a mouthpiece for the 100,000 or so Albertans who lost their jobs when the price of oil went down. And I’m also a mouthpiece for the tens of thousands of British Columbians who also lost their jobs when the price of oil went down,” she told Postmedia’s Reid Southwick during an interview Sunday.
“And what I’m a mouthpiece for is the view that we need to always be focused on ensuring that working people have jobs to go to in the morning, so they can bring paycheques home in the evening.”
The conflict began last week after Alberta served notice it would join project proponent Kinder Morgan Canada as it asks the National Energy Board to let construction move ahead on a portion of the development in the B.C. city.
The existing Trans Mountain pipeline moves oil from Alberta to a terminal in Burnaby for export. The expansion would almost triple the amount of crude heading to the west coast.
However, the company needs to expand and modify the Burnaby terminal, relocate existing delivery pipelines and build new storage tanks. The City of Burnaby hasn’t yet granted permits needed for it to proceed.
In NEB filings, Kinder Morgan said the project is now nine months behind schedule and it wants the regulator to remove such delays.
On Friday, Notley told reporters Alberta wants the matter to be heard by the NEB “because we think they (Burnaby) are overreaching extensively.”
In some ways, this dispute was inevitable.
Alberta is firmly behind the development. In B.C., Corrigan has been a fierce critic of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion for years.
The mayor called Notley’s remarks about the municipal delay “childish” and said it’s inappropriate for a premier to make such comments before all of the facts are heard and a quasijudicial ruling is issued.
Corrigan acknowledges telling a rally in November 2016 that “we will ensure that the Kinder Morgan pipeline never goes through our community.”
But the veteran civic politician insists he was only speaking about the political campaign to stop Trans Mountain in the court system or during the regulatory review, not through delays at the municipal level.
“I have no involvement in that (process) and provide no input on how our staff handles those issues,” he added.
Corrigan’s opposition is firmly entrenched.
However, if he is expecting Notley or other Alberta provincial leaders such as Jason Kenney to back down, he’s going to be waiting a long time. The NEB and Ottawa hold the hammer on approving interprovincial pipelines, not municipalities.
In the interview, Notley said it’s important the project be completed, not just for Albertans, but for people in British Columbia and across the country who will benefit from Canada getting its oil to tidewater for export.
According to the Conference Board of Canada, the Trans Mountain expansion will create 15,000 construction jobs and 37,000 operational jobs annually.
That’s part of the message Alberta’s premier will deliver on a speaking tour about pipelines later this month, visiting Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.
“There are people who can still have their mind changed,” Notley said.
“What’s at stake is we have to be able to show that we are a nation that can make economic nation-building decisions and take those decisions and function as a unit.”
The premier also pivoted to another critical point: the oilpatch contributes to Canada’s economic growth and to walk away from developing such resources would be “economically negligent.”
In Burnaby, Corrigan insists Alberta’s premier won’t change opinions in his community.
“I realize our position is controversial in Alberta. But I think you should have it clear, that Alberta’s position is controversial here in British Columbia,” he said.
If there’s one point everyone can agree on, it’s that the opinion of steadfast B.C. critics like Corrigan won’t be swayed in the coming weeks.
But it doesn’t have to be. There are still Canadians whose minds aren’t mind up on the merits of Trans Mountain or who can be motivated by a call to action on this front.
Now, it’s up to Notley and other leaders — federally, provincially and in business — to go out and make the case.
Yet again.
What’s at stake is we have to be able to show that we are a nation that can make economic nation-building decisions.