PIPELINE POSTURING
Notley: We’ll buy it if we must
Premier Rachel Notley says Alberta will buy the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion outright, if necessary, to get more oil to tidewater.
“We are considering a number of financial options to ensure that the Trans Mountain expansion is built, up to and including purchasing the pipeline outright if it was to come to that,” she said in a statement Tuesday.
Her comments come on the heels of Kinder Morgan Inc.’s announcement it had stopped nonessential spending on the project.
The company warned Sunday it may abandon the expansion unless an agreement is reached by May 31 to restore shareholder faith.
Without an agreement, “it is difficult to conceive of any scenario in which we would proceed with the project,” said a company news release.
British Columbia Premier John Horgan — who has vehemently opposed the pipeline — said Notley can do whatever she wants within Alberta’s borders.
“If she wants to invest in a pipeline that’s her business,” Horgan said.
ALBERTA RELYING ON TWO PIPELINES TO GET TO BALANCE
When the Alberta government released Budget 2018 last month, the province’s path back to balance by 2023 relied on pipelines.
At the time, the province pointed to the Trans Mountain expansion, but officials said the province needs two out of three pipelines — be they Trans Mountain, Keystone XL, Enbridge Line 3 or any combination thereof.
Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd repeated that message in budget estimates Monday night. But, she said, Trans Mountain is vital to developing a path for Alberta resources to get to Asia.
Finance Minister Joe Ceci told Postmedia on Tuesday he doesn’t think there was mixed messaging around the reliance on pipelines.
“We built pipeline revenues into our path to balance projections. We’re confident all the pipelines will be built, so we’re just going to keep going down this road,” he said.
LEGISLATION COMING TO TURN OFF THE TAPS
The B.C. government’s opposition to Trans Mountain spurred Notley to promise she’ll do whatever it takes to get the project built. In March, she promised to bring forward legislation that would allow Alberta to restrict its oil exports, hearkening back to a move by former premier Peter Lougheed.
In 1980, Lougheed passed legislation to reduce Alberta’s oil exports to Ontario by 15 per cent in a retaliatory move against the National Energy Program. It resulted in the federal government’s renegotiation of the program.
On Tuesday, the NDP gave notice of Bill 12, dubbed the Preserving Canada’s Economic Prosperity Act.
“They need to understand the consequences of what the government is doing and economic pain will be one of them,” said McCuaig Boyd, adding the bill will be introduced in the next few days. “They seem to think that their provincial jurisdiction will supersede the federal, which it clearly doesn’t.”