Moe cool to Trans Mountain deal

Premier wants B.C. funding ‘on hold’ until pipeline construction is finalized

REGINA The federal government’s decision to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion is being characterized as less than ideal for Saskatchewan.

And Premier Scott Moe says the province has no interest in joining Ottawa and Alberta in taking an equity stake in the project, saying Saskatchewan is “not going to invest in nationalizing an asset.”

Moe pointed to the fact a private company, Kinder Morgan, was financing the project before it was announced Tuesday it would be sold to the federal government.

“We had a proponent that had the financial backing to build this piece of infrastructure,” Moe said. Now, he added, “we have a federal government that is paying that company, essentially, to leave the nation.”

Another reason for Saskatchewan not taking on an equity stake, according to Moe, is because it’s Alberta oil rather than Saskatchewan oil moving through the pipeline.

However, he noted there is an impact on the province because of the estimated $2.6 billion lost to Saskatchewan’s economy as a result of having to sell its oil at Canadian, rather than global, prices due to a lack of access to foreign markets — something Trans Mountain could help change.

The premier is continuing to take issue with the federal government’s approach to getting the pipeline built.

“This was more of a last choice, if you will, as opposed to a first choice,” he said.

Under the plan, revealed Tuesday by federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, Kinder Morgan will go ahead with its original plan to twin the pipeline this summer while the sale is finalized. (Part of that includes a commitment by Morneau to honour the existing contract to have 75 per cent of the pipeline’s steel coming from Regina’s Evraz steelmaking and rolling mill).

Moe also took issue with the regulatory environment with respect to pipeline approvals, openly questioning what changed other than who owns Trans Mountain.

Moe repeated his request Tuesday to have the federal government “put on hold” federal infrastructure funding for British Columbia until an agreement on starting the construction of the pipeline is finalized.

“The owner of the pipeline has changed. We still need to address the concerns British Columbia has,” he said.

John Horgan, the NDP premier of B.C., argues his government should be able to protect the Pacific coast from oil spills.

Horgan’s government is asking that province’s Court of Appeal to rule on a province’s ability to limit the flow of oil in hopes it will bring an end to an ongoing debate over jurisdictional powers in the regulation of energy products in pipelines.

Moe is on the opposite end of the debate, arguing the flow of products — including bitumen — is under the jurisdiction of the federal government. He contended Tuesday restricting infrastructure funding could help prompt Horgan’s government to see the issue in the same light.

The premier said he was confident the project would be built and is remaining “cautiously optimistic,” a sentiment that was shared outside the Legislative Building.

Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve McLellan said the federal government’s action is “less than ideal.”

“The fact that the federal government has assumed ownership of the project shows weakness in the federal approval process, but they have also demonstrated a commitment to the completion of this pipeline,” he said in a statement.