Albertans vow to get pipeline built
Protesters pump up fight for fairness, economic future, Claudia Cattaneo writes.
With almost no pipelines left to lose, Albertans of all backgrounds and political persuasions are uniting and rising against years of what they perceive as unfair treatment by the federal Liberal government and its eco-activist partners.
They are showing the tide is turning against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s strategy of transitioning Canada away from oil and gas — which has killed oil and gas investment, jobs, economic growth, and is now threatening the last oilpatch lifeline, the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion — while he prioritizes climate change policy and carbon taxes. The next chapter is uncharted political territory.
That pent-up anger spilled over at a Calgary rally in support of the Trans Mountain pipeline Tuesday and is expected to continue at a rally in Edmonton Thursday at the Alberta legislature. Rally 4 Resources and Canada Action organized both events in response to Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd putting the project on hold on the weekend in response to the British Columbia government’s continued opposition.
At least 1,000 oil workers, executives, unemployed, children, Indigenous leaders poured in front of the provincial government building on Tuesday to chant: “Build that pipe. Build that pipe. Build that pipe.’
This is no Vancouver, where demonstrators are on speed dial. This is the heart of the tightlipped oil industry, where many never showed up at a rally before, and those who still have jobs keep their heads low.
Yet they came in suits, wheelchairs, strollers and waved signs like: Trans Mountain Keeps Vancouver airport Flying, The World Needs More Canada, Alberta Oil Most Ethical In the World.
For Trudeau, that political uncertainty already has many names. They include Jason Kenney, the leader of the United Conservative Party, who is running to be Alberta’s next premier and drew big applause when he said: “Are you folks ready to fight for Alberta? Are you ready to fight for our country’s economic future?
“Friends, this is not just about a pipeline. This is about what country we live in. If we can’t get this project done, it tells us that we are no longer a country based on the rule of law. It tells us we are no longer a country that believes in internal free trade. It tells us that we are no longer that, we are turning our back on the future of prosperity. This isn’t just a fight for one project. This is not just a fight for the energy industry. It is a fight for Canada.”
Kenney blamed foreign-funded eco-activists for pressuring Trudeau to kill the Northern Gateway pipeline and the Energy East pipeline, as well as to surrender when former U.S. President Barack Obama vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline, and for doing nothing to get the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion built.
If the obstructionism is allowed to continue, Canada will lose hundreds of billions of dollars of value from its energy deposits, the ability to pay off debts, future pensions and education, while dictatorships like Saudi Arabia and Iran gain market share, Kenney told the crowd.
“If enemies of our economic progress succeed, we will simply hand a monopoly over the growing global energy market to some of the world’s worst regimes,” he said. “This isn’t just about our economy. This is about human rights, and the world is counting on Canada to win this fight.”
But it’s not just Kenney who poses a political threat. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is so exasperated she’s putting on the table tougher measures that will deepen the divide with British Columbia, which has gotten away with years of oilpatch sabotage amid federal complacency.
Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister and NDP MLA Shaye Anderson drew cheers when he said his NDP government brought in legislation to “cause economic pain to B.C.”
That pain involves cutting off Alberta oil shipments to B.C.’s lower mainland in retribution for Premier John Horgan’s stalling tactics. A bill is expected to be introduced in the Alberta legislature as soon as next week.
Trudeau’s Conservative opposition is also re-energized. Conservative Calgary MP Michelle Rempel took off the gloves against Trudeau for promoting fairness for so many — except for Albertans.
“It’s not fair to say that the jobs that we do are dirty. It’s not fair to denigrate an industry that provides energy products in one of the most ethical and sustainable ways in the world. It’s not fair to let vocal minority groups that don’t run on fact to control the fate and prosperity of an entire country,” she said.
Rempel said it’s also not fair to use taxpayers’ money to purchase a piece of Trans Mountain, an option that is on the table both in Alberta and in Ottawa, to solve a problem of Trudeau’s own creation.
She ridiculed Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr for claiming that “all options are on the table. What is that code for, energy sector? No options are on the table,” Rempel said.
And what about Canada’s Indigenous communities, which Trudeau has leaned on to legitimize his environmental agenda? They’re breaking ranks with him too, and becoming yet another powerful face of that political uncertainty.
“Stop using First Nations as pawns,” Metis Robbie Picard, founder of OilSands Strong, said at the rally.
First Nations leaders in the Fort McMurray region caught up with Trudeau when he visited last week to tell him that as far as supporting the oilsands and the Trans Mountain expansion, “we are more united than ever,” Picard said.