Vancouver mayor’s vision ends at city limits
Polls show tide has turned on pipeline project
Should Albertans even bother getting mad at a guy like Gregor Robertson, the lame-duck mayor of Vancouver?
Probably not. His belief that protesters will stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline, and his absurd claim that Alberta’s oil and gas sector “represents such a tiny percentage of the overall economy and job count,” sound like the words of a desperate man.
The truth is Robertson and his anti-pipeline allies are losing. The tide is turning, if an Albertan may use a maritime metaphor.
Polls consistently show strong and rising support for the expansion, in B.C. and across the country.
The opponents’ final hope is that protesters will somehow disrupt and halt the project, even though hardly anybody but them wants that conflict.
When Robertson talks about the itty-bitty contribution of oil and gas, he must be referring solely to the economy in Vancouver. That’s no surprise, since he seems to have no vision beyond city limits.
But in B.C. at large, as well as the whole country, oil and gas have been spectacular spinners of investment and jobs, as well as suppliers of energy. Statistics Canada figures show about 140,000 direct payroll employment and support jobs in oil and gas. This is diminished in recent years because of the price crash, but certainly not “tiny.”
And those StatsCan numbers don’t record scores of thousands of jobs in companies selling products to oil and gas concerns, or the massive job creation from construction projects.
Here’s another figure Robertson can store wherever he likes: In 2014, Canadian businesses invested $11.8 billion in environmental protection. More than half of that — $6.5 billion — came from oil and natural gas firms.
Alberta energy firms were spending billions even before they started paying the provincial carbon tax.
This is another upsetting thing about characters like Robertson.
They take no account — none whatever — of the fact that Alberta has turned itself upside down to control carbon use. The province has grappled with a vast new climate change plan to reduce emissions and develop renewable energy.
If Robertson wants to turn Albertans against all that, the best way to do it is to stop the pipeline.
But none of it matters because, as Robertson said, “I think there’s a much bigger question here. We have to get off of fossil fuels.”
Which is another way of saying that no matter what Alberta does to fight climate change, it won’t be good enough.
Robertson and his allies — Premier John Horgan and Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan, to name two — make it tempting for Alberta to choke off the Lower Mainland’s oil supply.
Vancouver would be off fossil fuels in a hurry. Robertson would surely be pleased.
But we’re not getting angry here, right?
At this point, it would be foolish to overreact. Cutting oil supply would hurt people all over B.C. The majority who favour the project could get angry and change their minds.
Also, those positive polls may be the only factor that keeps Ottawa focused on getting the project built. Do we really imagine that if the polls showed, say, 20-percent support, the Trudeau Liberals would still back it?
So far, the feds have talked a lot but done absolutely nothing to publicly promote the pipeline. Alberta is left to carry the ball — and expense.
The province is spending $1.2 million on two campaigns called Know the Facts and Keep Canada working. Of that total, $707,000 will be spent in B.C.
Eighteen digital boards (once called billboards) started going up April 30 in the Interior and on the coast. Seven will be in Vancouver.
The current message is: “Trans Mountain pipeline means more money for roads, schools and hospitals.”
Angus Reid Institute polling shows that 69 per cent of B.C. residents want the province to “give in and allow the pipeline to be built.”
In Vancouver, 55 per cent of residents like the way Horgan is handling the pipeline issue (that is, opposing it at every turn). But in the rest of Metro Vancouver (Burnaby, Richmond, West and North Vancouver and nine more municipalities) 52 per cent favour the pipeline.
In every province, including B.C., majorities believe the pipeline will help the national economy.
When Gregor Robertson leaves the Vancouver mayor’s office in October, his parting gift may be a pipeline under construction. That would be a moment to cherish.