Alberta ‘more convinced’ about federal action on Trans Mountain

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said the federal government has promised action to try to break the impasse over the Trans Mountain pipeline, but federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau won’t say what measures are on the table.

The two met in Toronto on Wednesday, and Notley told reporters in a conference call afterward that she left feeling “a little bit more convinced” that the federal government would take specific action soon.

She declined to outline what those actions might be, saying that is something for Morneau to make public.

For his part, Morneau vowed to consider all options to get Kinder Morgan Inc.’s stalled pipeline project moving again, but he shed little light on what measures are on the table. After what he called a “good” meeting with Notley, Morneau said the government is considering “legal, regulatory and financial” ways to ensure the $7.4-billion expansion project isn’t hampered any further.

The future of the Trans Mountain project was put in jeopardy this week when Kinder Morgan said delay tactics by the British Columbia government may make the expansion of the existing line financially untenable.

The company has suspended all non-essential work until May 31, saying the project won’t continue until the federal government intervenes in the ongoing tussle between B.C. and Alberta.

Notley said the line, from Edmonton to Burnaby, is critical to getting more oil to the coast and fetching better prices.

She is introducing a bill next week to give her the power to turn down the oil taps to B.C., and said that will involve imposing new conditions on export licences.

“It would allow us to direct the export of the product in a way that allows us to get the best price for the product and meets other generalized objectives,” said Notley. “That could include a number of things, both restricting what goes in certain directions as well as suggesting certain mechanisms for it to be transported.”