Constituents have say on pipeline

In my weekly MP reports, I often close with a question related to the subject of the report. I do this for a number of reasons, most importantly because I want to know what my constituents think.

On some issues, there may be a strong consensus. However, on other issues there might be vast differences of opinion.

In particular, I find citizens will often convey a perspective that might not be reflected in Ottawa.

If there was any one subject that provoked an extremely significant response, it was related to the Trudeau government announcing that it would spend $4.5 billion to buy the Trans-Mountain pipeline project from U.S.-based Kinder Morgan.

The intent of this purchase was to spend an additional $ 7.4 billion to build the expanded Trans-Mountain pipeline.

The reaction I heard from this decision that the Government spend nearly $12 billion building a pipeline, was generally one of outrage, even from those who indicated they supported its construction.

I mention this because recently the CBC reported on documents Kinder Morgan filed with the United States Security and Exchange Commission that show builing the pipeline could cost a further $1.9 billion over and above what was previously disclosed and take an additional year to construct. Most troubling is the fact that Canadian journalists did not learn of this new information directly from the government.

Without the filings from the US Security and Exchange Commission, this information would likely still be hidden from Canadians.

Given that the CBC reports the cost to construct the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline may now top $9.3 billion, with a possible completion date of December 2021, my question this week is simple:

Have your views on the Trans-Mountain pipeline project changed in any way and do you believe the Trudeau government can reliably manage this project?