Buying more rail cars for oil a bad idea, Morneau says

OTTAWA • Finance Minister Bill Morneau is signalling he won’t cough up money for new rail cars to ship Alberta oil, saying it would take months and wouldn’t solve the current price collapse. Morneau, in an interview with The West Block on Global News that aired on Sunday, said the province of Alberta could buy rail cars with industry should it choose to, but that the federal government was focused on building the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion. Rail cars take a significant amount of time to acquire, he said. “Our estimate is it might take at least nine months, perhaps longer, to actually get more rail,” Morneau said, according to an advance transcript. “If that’s a decision that the Alberta government and the industry wants to take, that’s a decision that can be taken.” The federal government is said not to favour Alberta’s proposal to buy trains to boost crude shipments on rail by 120,000 barrels daily. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has said she might buy the rail cars herself. Morneau’s economic statement, released on Nov. 21, included billions in broad-based tax breaks for business but was criticized for not doing enough to help Alberta during its oil crunch. Morneau said the government has “been really clear that the decision around Trans Mountain was the first best way for us to get resources to international markets.” Cheap Alberta oil is having a wide-ranging impact on the whole nation’s economy, including sowing doubts that the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates at its January meeting, as had been widely expected until recently. JOSH WINGROVE