Notley ramps up pressure on B.C. with pipeline ads
Trans Mountain campaign touts more money for roads, schools and hospitals
Premier Rachel Notley unveiled the details of a $1.2-million campaign to garner support for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion ahead of a looming deadline Kinder Morgan Inc. handed down to restore shareholder confidence.
The company threw the $7.4-billion project into doubt last month when it stopped non-essential spending and set a May 31 deadline to restore investor certainty.
Notley said Thursday Ottawa is in “serious and determined discussions” with Alberta and Kinder Morgan and she is confident talks about getting the project back on track will be successful before the deadline.
She said she can’t divulge details of the talks with Kinder Morgan.
Billboards splashed with the phrase “Trans Mountain pipeline means more money for roads, schools and hospitals” will be paired with television and radio spots nationally, she said. More than $700,000 of the campaign funds will go to efforts in B.C.
“We will not stand on the sidelines in the battle for the hearts and minds of Canadians,” she told reporters.
Notley has repeatedly said she would do whatever it takes to get the pipeline built, including buying the project outright.
Ottawa has also vowed the project will go ahead with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructing Finance Minister Bill Morneau to sit down with Kinder Morgan and come up with financial solutions.
B.C. Premier John Horgan reiterated he would use every tool at his disposable to block the pipeline, citing the need to protect coastline from potential oil spills.
BILL 12 SUNSET CLAUSE
Legislators amended the NDP’s pillar piece of legislation that gives the energy minister final say over crude oil, natural gas and refined fuels being shipped out of Alberta.
An Alberta Party amendment that passed Wednesday will restrict those powers to two years.
The legislation is currently in third reading.
“If it becomes necessary to use the power that Bill 12 gives us — the power to strategically deploy our resources — we will,” Notley said Thursday.
She also stressed Alberta will seek full status in the B.C. reference case announced by Horgan. He wants the B.C. Court of Appeal to rule on whether the province has the authority to regulate the flow of oil through Trans Mountain.
“If British Columbia retains the right to throttle our resources, every other province will be given the same right,” she said.
PRO-PIPELINE TRIP TO B.C.
Environment and Parks Minister Shannon Phillips will travel to Kamloops, B.C., at the end of May to meet with the B.C. Chamber of Commerce.
Ongoing interactions with B.C. residents coupled with advocacy campaigns are paying off, she told reporters Thursday following a pro-pipeline speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce.