Pipeline should be nationalized

Prime Minister Trudeau said recently that Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline twinning project was in the public interest and would go ahead.

The government of Alberta favours the project, but the government of British Columbia is opposed to it.

If the government of Canada truly believes Trans Mountain is in the public interest, it seems to me it should be publicly owned. The next logical step is for Canada to nationalize Trans Mountain and truly make it in the public interest. A public interest project should mainly benefit the general public and not some private corporation(s). Public ownership would give British Columbia a reason to change its position as both Alberta and British Columbia could then easily agree to Trans Mountain going ahead as publicly owned. Simply stating that something is in the public interest does not make it a public interest project, but nationalizing it would prove the government is serious about making it a public interest project.

Now I strongly suspect Kinder Morgan hearing that the government wants Trans Mountain to go ahead will believe that the prime minister and the governing Liberals will be open to a request for financial assistance and will soon be making a case for a grant of public funds to help get it built. Clearly Trudeau and minister Carr have opened the door to more corporate welfare without thinking the implications of their statements through. David Bridger, Saskatoon