LiBerAls to AnnounCe deCision on pipeline
FEDERAL CABINET’S DECISION ON PIPELINE TO COME TODAY
OTTAWA • Finance Minister Bill Morneau will lay out to the federal cabinet Tuesday three options that will ensure the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion gets built.
One option involves the government buying and building the expansion, then selling it once it is complete. A second option is buying it on an interim basis, then selling it to investors and leaving them to handle the construction.
Morneau has already unveiled the third option: leaving original project architect Kinder Morgan to handle construction, but covering any cost overruns incurred as a result of political interference.
The federal cabinet has been summoned to meet Tuesday morning, two hours earlier than usual, after which Morneau will discuss which of the three options the government has decided on.
Kinder Morgan gave Ottawa until Thursday to convince it to proceed by settling down jittery investors who fear a court challenge from the B.C. government that would make the project too great a liability.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has put a lot of political capital on the project, pledging over and over again that the pipeline expansion is in the national interest and will be built one way or another.
“I can tell you my government is doing, and will continue to do, everything necessary to defend federal jurisdiction and … get this pipeline built,” Trudeau said earlier this month. “We continue to work hard every day, visibly but also behind the scenes, to ensure that it’s going to get built and I’m very, very confident this pipeline is going to get built.”
National Post columnist John Ivison predicted last week that the most likely outcome of the current negotiations would be Ottawa buying all the assets associated with the project and then trying to sell them.
The $7.4-billion Kinder Morgan expansion project would nearly triple the flow of oil products from Alberta to Burnaby, B.C., to 890,000 barrels, up from 300,000 barrels per day. However, the extension is opposed by the B.C. government which says the risk of a bitumen spill is too great for the province’s environment and economy.
This has sparked a bitter feud between Alberta and B.C.
Last week, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley refused to attend the Western premiers conference.
“When it comes to interprovincial relations, it’s not business as usual — not even close,” she said.
WE CONTINUE TO WORK HARD EVERY DAY TO ENSURE THAT IT’S GOING TO GET BUILT.
Notley accused B.C. Premier John Horgan of trying to shut down the Trans Mountain pipeline and take $15 billion out of the Canadian economy.
The B.C. government has filed a reference case in the provincial Court of Appeal to determine if it has jurisdiction to regulate heavy oil shipments. It also joined two other lawsuits launched by Indigenous groups opposed to the $7.4-billion pipeline project.
Meanwhile, Alberta has passed a bill to allow it to reduce shipments of oil and other fuels to B.C., which could lead to gas price spikes and other fuel-related hardships. B.C. has filed a suit in Alberta to stop Notley from turning down the taps, saying it violates the Constitution.
After last week’s Western premiers conference, Horgan said of his relationship with Notley, “I think the tone between the two of us is strained. This is not personal for me. It’s about my responsibility to make sure that I’m doing my level best to protect our economy, our environment.”
The federal NDP has also sided with Horgan. Last week, federal Leader Jagmeet Singh — after months of trying to stay neutral in the bitter feud between his Alberta and B.C. counterparts — said he was 100 per cent opposed to the idea after Ottawa revealed it was planning to cover any cost overruns caused by political interference.
“This was a very difficult decision for me,” Singh said last week. “It wasn’t something I took lightly but leaders have to make tough decisions.”