Pipeline not reality just yet

Dear Editor: Tom Isherwood shouldn’t be too anxious about his “Stink Slinky” wreaking environmental havoc on the Pacific coast any time soon.

There’s a rocky road ahead before any oil moves through it. To this point, the combined efforts of the Liberals, NDP, Greens, environmentalists, natives and vested oil interests in Quebec have killed two of four pipelines planned for the oilsands: Energy East and Northern Gateway.

There are some glaring inconsistencies in our oil policies, to the extent that they exist.

Pipelines seem OK as long as they don’t carry product from the Alberta oilsands, and as long as they don’t go through Quebec to impact the market status quo.

Oil tankers in our Atlantic ports are OK, but not in our Pacific ports.

Rail shipments of oil from the western U.S. through Quebec, like the one that incinerated Lac Megantic, are good, but rail shipments to the Pacific are bad.

And spending $26 billion on foreign oil for Eastern Canada annually is acceptable, but using our own oil from western Canada isn’t.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has just confirmed his preferences by funding a project for oil trains to bypass Lac Megantic and summer jobs for people to protest Kinder Morgan, a project which he says is a vital national interest.

People who expect continued largesse from the government teat should think about where this may be headed.

Revenues from Alberta oil have historically fueled much of the lopsided transfer payments to pouty Quebec, our highly popular health care and social programs and the hefty payouts to the native sector. It seems we will re-learn some harsh economic realities the hard way. You just can’t tax, borrow, spend or protest your way to prosperity.

Maybe it’s time to consider the possibility of tanker shipments from the Port of Churchill. People are looking for reasons to resuscitate the port and the railway, and this could be it. Warming climate now allows the Northwest Passage to operate up to nine months.

Northern Gateway to Kitimat may have been the better choice. It did enjoy the support of numerous First Nations along its route and it’s far removed from protest central in Vancouver.

John Thompson, Kaleden