Moe defends outspoken position on pipeline

Saskatchewan’s premier says the provincial government’s increasingly vocal involvement in a major pipeline dispute is not an attempt to deflect attention from its deficit or rising debt load.

However, Scott Moe acknowledged at an event on Friday that Alberta has far more to lose should the stalled Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project be mothballed.

“It’s not a distraction,” said Moe, who was criticized earlier this month for deflecting a question about the Global Transportation Hub, leading Opposition NDP leader Ryan Meili to call it “the distraction of the day.”

“It’s an important piece of infrastructure, not just to our province, but to the nation — which is why the federal government has said it’s in the national interest,” Moe told reporters in Saskatoon.

His outspoken stance on the $7.4 billion pipeline to the B.C. coast has become one of the key planks of his premiership, alongside strong opposition to the federal government’s carbon pricing scheme.

Saskatchewan, however, has emerged as a minor player in the debate, with Alberta — which has more people, more money and more oil — leading the charge against B.C.’s NDP government, which is seeking to block the project.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners has said it will mothball the pipeline at the end of this month unless the political and legal battles have been settled, leading Ottawa to step in and offer to make good any losses it incurs.

Speaking at a meeting of most Western premiers in Yellowknife earlier this week, B.C. Premier John Horgan said he respects Alberta’s opinion on the project but “didn’t feel any pressure” to modify his position.

Horgan did not mention Saskatchewan at all.

Moe told reporters Friday that while the pipeline will not carry Saskatchewan oil, it is important to set the tone for all future conversations and disputes between the country’s exporting provinces.

“How are we going to get past having these very contradictory conversations in the future? Because as we grow our economy, we’re going to need additional capacity and additional access,” he said.

Moe’s government is in the middle of a three-year plan — begun last year by former premier Brad Wall — to eliminate a $1.2 billion deficit partly caused by collapsing oil and potash prices.

Its latest budget, delivered in April, aims to trim $230 million from a $595 million deficit, in part by adding $2.3 billion in new debt. That will bring the total provincial debt to $20 billion, with annual service costs of around $650 million.

While Moe’s address to the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce lunch was billed as a “State of the Province” speech, he spent most of his 20-some minutes onstage excoriating the federal government for its carbon tax plans. Speaking with reporters afterward, Moe said the province’s finances are “on track” to balance.