Federal oilpatch bailout to focus on cleanup

Observers say the federal government’s multibillion-dollar oilpatch bailout package announced Friday should come with strings attached. “(Money) should be tied to regulatory change in Alberta to ensure the province puts in place a polluter-pays program, so the public is not left with these liabilities in the future,” said Greenpeace Canada spokesman Keith Stewart.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his government plans to spend $1.7 billion in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia to clean up “orphan wells” — oil and gas wells that have been abandoned by their often-bankrupt owners without being remediated.

Ottawa also plans another $750 million to help cut emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that leaks from energy facilities.

Few details were given about the spending and industry spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.

Trudeau said the money will support 10,000 jobs across the country.

Stewart said targeting the spending on cleanup does put people to work.

“We’ve been urging the Trudeau government to bail out people and not polluters and today’s announcement is a step in that direction,” he said.

Merran Smith at Clean Energy Canada called the spending “a smart approach.”

“It sends an important signal that the federal government doesn’t intend to back away from its climate plan,” she said in a release.

“(It’s) inclined to orient relief and, we hope, subsequent stimulus efforts, towards activities that are aligned with their climate commitments and will reduce pollution.”

The package may fall short of industry expectations.

In a March 27 letter to Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers asked for a halt to further climate change programs, a freeze on the federal carbon tax, no new clean fuel standard and a moratorium on environmental reporting requirements.

“We encourage them to have a toolsdown approach until we have a resolution of the crisis,” director Tim McMillan told The Canadian Press this week.

Others have proposed aid directed at keeping companies alive.

The Business Council of Alberta has called for no-interest loans, loan guarantees, suspending principal payments on existing loans, and taking away for an interim period the ability of banks to call in loans.

The council has also written an open letter to the federal government asking that it buy troubled companies.