SURVEY SHOWS CANADIANS WANT TO REVISIT ENERGY EAST PIPELINE IF LINE 5 IS SCRAPPED.
Fallout from controversy over Line 5
Residents of the state of Michigan and the province of Ontario believe Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5 pipeline should remain open, but Quebec residents are evenly split on the issue, according to a new survey.
The controversial pipeline which ships oil mostly from Alberta to markets in Ontario, Quebec and U.S. Midwest has been in the crosshairs of the Michigan government.
Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s governor, issued a shutdown order for the pipeline in May over concerns of a potential spill into the Straits of Mackinac, where the pipeline runs under water.
The two parties are currently in mediation, which is expected to wrap up in August.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds nearly half of respondents in Michigan (48 per cent) and Ontario (49 per cent) want the pipeline to remain open, while a quarter in Michigan and nearly three-in-10 in Ontario want it shut down.
In Quebec, the 72 per cent who have an opinion are evenly split on what the pipeline’s fate should be.
Angus Reid surveyed more than 2,200 people across Michigan, Ontario and Quebec in mid-june, although the sample size for Michigan of 427 was relatively small compared to the two provinces.
While two-thirds of those in Michigan are concerned about a leak from Line 5, half believe a tunnel proposed by Enbridge will address the concerns.
Of the state’s residents who are engaged with the issue, more than a quarter (27 per cent) said they had read or seen stories about the issue or discussed it with family and friends, while another 25 per cent had briefly discussed it or read a story or two.
A majority of Ontarians are also following the issue, with 52 per cent claiming that they had read, if briefly, about Line 5. Only 34 per cent of Quebecers claimed to have been that engaged on the subject.
While Michigan residents largely approve of Governor Whitmer’s leadership, they don’t necessarily agree with one of her signature campaign promises: shutting down Line 5.
Nearly half of Michiganders want to keep it open, while even those who approve of Whitmer are split on the pipeline’s fate, the survey noted.
“The potential economic impacts, both regionally and personally, are a key concern for those who want the pipeline to stay open. A majority of the pipeline’s supporters in Michigan (65 per cent), Ontario (65 per cent), and Quebec (55 per cent) believe they will be personally impacted either ‘significantly’ or ‘massively’ if Line 5 shuts down,” according to the Angus Reid survey released this morning.
Remarkably, the dispute over Line 5 also appears to have revived support for a west-to-east Canadian pipeline that was scrapped in 2017.
Three-quarters of Ontarians (76 per cent), and three-in-five Quebecers (58 per cent), believe TC Energy Corp.’s (then known as Transcanada Corp.) long-since-cancelled Energy East project should be reconsidered if Michigan turns off the tap on Line 5.
Quebecers’ approval of Energy East is a surprise given that the province was vehemently opposed to the project when it was proposed in 2013.
“Even if Line 5 survives Whitmer’s campaign against it, many in Ontario and Quebec want Energy East to be reconsidered regardless,” according to the survey.
“Two-thirds of those in Ontario (65 per cent) and half of those in Quebec think Energy East should be reconsidered even if the contested Michigan pipeline remains open,” the survey noted.
But Energy East advocates shouldn’t get too excited. Even in 2016, just a year before opposition to the project in the province reached a crescendo, 48 per cent of Quebecers were in favour of the Energy East pipeline — but the development was still cancelled due to staunch opposition from the Quebec government and local groups.
It’s also unclear whether TC Energy has the risk appetite to pursue a cross-country project that has already been cancelled once.