B.C. hurting Sask. economy by blocking pipeline: Moe
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the B.C. government is “punishing the economy and businesses and the energy sector” in his province by continuing to oppose Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
On Tuesday, the premier told reporters he does not believe Saskatchewan is punishing private businesses in its brewing trade war with B.C.
Those comments came one day after Moe announced he would join Alberta in passing a law allowing for the restriction of the movement of oil, gasoline and natural gas to B.C. — a move that could see B.C. residents paying significantly higher prices.
Alberta ships more of those products to B.C. than Saskatchewan does, but Moe is aiming to ensure his province won’t be “filling up the taps” if they are left empty by Alberta.
As is, Saskatchewan is signalling a willingness to at least temporarily forgo the dollars it brings in from energy products sold to B.C., an estimated $400 million each year.
In proposing to refuse Saskatchewan producers the ability to sell to B.C. in an instance where Alberta “shuts the tap off,” Moe is also signalling a willingness to forgo even more dollars: B.C. imported $3.2 billion in refined petroleum products and $1.3 billion in fossil fuels from Alberta, according to the most recent interprovincial trade data from Statistics Canada reported in 2014.
Moe’s willingness to forgo those dollars, even temporarily, is built on a belief Saskatchewan needs further access to tidewater to export its energy products.
The B.C. government’s opposition to the pipeline expansion is preventing that from happening, and it is costing Saskatchewan an estimated $2.6 billion each year — largely because the province sells its energy products to one foreign market, the United States.
“We’re being hurt by not having access, whether it be through rail or by pipeline capacity for our landlocked province, so that is the ultimate impact we’re trying to correct by beginning the construction of this federally approved pipeline,” Moe said, later adding, “We’re standing up for private business in Saskatchewan to the tune of trying to close that differential, that $2.6-billion differential that we have in our energy industry.”
Asked about whether or not the law he’s expected to introduce “within days” would be in violation of the law, Moe said the province had a legal opinion and “holding up the construction of this pipeline, it’s in violation of the law.”
He called on the federal government to restrict infrastructure to B.C. as a means to get the pipeline built, noting Ottawa withheld funding to Saskatchewan over its continued opposition to a carbon tax.
B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman said his province is prepared to defend its interests “with every legal means available and in the courts” and that court action would be considered if Alberta’s law, once passed, causes gasoline prices to go up on the West Coast.