Coderre hails Energy East’s demise as enormous victory
TransCanada confirms it will withdraw pipeline project from consideration
Incumbent Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre is among those claiming victory after TransCanada announced Thursday it is terminating its controversial Energy East pipeline. “I’ve been saying since Day 1 that (TransCanada was) arrogant and condescending,” Coderre told reporters Thursday morning. “It’s an enormous victory.”
TransCanada said in a statement Thursday it will notify Quebec’s environment ministry it is withdrawing the pipeline project from the province’s environmental review process.
Energy East would have carried 1.1 million barrels of crude per day from Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries in Eastern Canada and an export marine terminal in New Brunswick. In January 2016, the Montreal Metropolitan Community, a regional organization of municipal politicians led by Coderre and representing more than 80 area cities and towns, officially opposed the project saying its risks far outweighed its benefits.
“But it’s not just a Quebec thing,” Coderre said. “You had mayors from northern Ontario who were questioning that project and were against it.”
While a coalition of Quebec business and union groups had supported the pipeline as a source of jobs and economic spinoffs, the Liberal government had never been more than lukewarm about it. Premier Philippe Couillard noted that while oil needed to get to market, it shouldn’t do so at a risk to the environment.
In Quebec City, Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée described TransCanada’s decision as a “great victory for Quebecers. It’s a great victory for the PQ.”
Lisée took some credit, claiming that unlike the Coalition Avenir Québec and the provincial Liberal party, the PQ firmly opposed the pipeline. However, the PQ blew hot and cold on the issue when led by Pierre Karl Péladeau in 2015-2016.
The project sparked controversy from the moment it was announced. Business groups and unions felt it would help Quebec’s economy, while many politicians and environmentalists deplored the risks it posed to the province’s ecology.
Those divisions remained clear on Thursday:
Grand Chief Serge Simon of the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake:
“Both the Northern Gateway fight and this Energy East one show that when First Nations stand together, supported by non-Indigenous allies, we win . ... But it will be a hollow victory if either Kinder Morgan, Line 3 or Keystone XL are allowed to steamroll over Indigenous opposition.”
MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges, which would have seen Energy East run through its territory: “We’re already saturated with these types of infrastructures on our territory. Yes, this is good news; however … even if the project has been abandoned, the security of our water supply from (existing) pipelines is not assured.”
Conseil de patronat, Quebec’s largest employers group: “The (political) back and forth this project was subjected to — at the federal and provincial level — just sends a message of uncertainty, precariousness and improvisation — the kind of message that makes investors flee.”
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley: “We believe this nation-building project would have benefited all of Canada through new jobs, investment, energy security and the ability to displace oil being imported into Canada from overseas and the United States.”
Suncor Energy’s Sneh Seetal: “We supported the Energy East pipeline because it would have provided supply options and access to western Canadian crudes for our Montreal refinery and also would have provided access to new markets.”
Ian Whitcomb, Irving Oil: “This was a $15-billion private-sector investment that would have enabled further investment and development in our country, creating thousands of skilled jobs and generous tax revenues and royalties for all levels of government along with creating energy security for our country.”