Trudeau calls on Biden to break pipeline campaign promise

OTTAWA—While the Alberta premier considers legal action against the United States, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada is leaning on its climate record as it tries to convince the incoming U.S. president to break his campaign pledge to cancel the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Speaking to reporters outside his residence at Rideau Cottage, Trudeau dodged questions about Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s threat to sue the U.S. for damages if U.S. presidentelect Joe Biden revokes approval for the $10-billion pipeline.

Instead, the prime minister stressed that Canadian officials — including Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador in Washington — are engaged with the “highest levels” of the incoming Biden administration to argue the pipeline is good for North America. And part of that pitch is that Canada has changed since president Barack Obama rejected Keystone XL in 2015.

“Canada has, in the intervening few years, become a global leader on the fight against climate change and is moving forward on transforming our economy in positive ways to reduce carbon emissions,” Trudeau said Tuesday.

“We are communicating our arguments in favour of Keystone XL directly to the highest levels of this administration, and we will continue to work closely with them on this.”

Trudeau’s Liberal government has billed itself as a climate champion since its earliest days in power — a policy stance it shares with the incoming Biden administration. Since 2015, Canada has implemented a national minimum carbon price, a plan to phase out coalfired electricity, and has legislation in Parliament to guide emissions reductions to net-zero greenhouse gas by 2050.

The latest stage of the government’s climate plan also includes $15 billion in planned spending to — among other things — help heavy industries like steel and oil slash emissions, renovate buildings so they are greener, and encourage the switch to electric vehicles through rebates and the construction of charging stations across the country.

But none of that precludes construction of pipelines to export more oil — something Trudeau and his government have long insisted they can do without compromising on the fight against climate change.

Trudeau noted Tuesday that he has supported the Keystone XL project since he spoke in favour of the pipeline at a progressive summit in Washington in 2013. He also said Canada is defending the pipeline from a “jobs perspective” and “an energy security perspective.”

Alberta, too, is pushing hard for the project, and even bought in with $1.5 billion in public money. On Monday, Kenney threatened legal action “for damages incurred” if the pipeline is cancelled.

The Obama administration first rejected Keystone XL in 2015, but the project was later revived and approved by President Donald Trump. Construction started last year.

It has been widely reported that Biden — who gets sworn in on Wednesday — plans to scrap the pipeline permit as one of his first acts in power.

Dan Ujczo, a trade expert and senior counsel at the firm, Thompson and Hine, said there are avenues for legal challenges if Biden follows through with that promise. TC Energy, the company behind Keystone XL, could use a provision under the new North American trade agreement to challenge the decision, Ujczo said. Canada could also file a dispute against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization, he said.

But Ujczo said the best route, in his view, is for Canada to keep pressing how Keystone XL is a “different project” than when it was rejected in 2015. He pointed to route adjustments to accommodate concerns from Indigenous groups and environmentalists in the U.S.

TC Energy also announced this week that the pipeline will be powered entirely by renewable electricity “no later than 2030.” In a press release, the company also said Canadian oilsands producers have significantly slashed emissions in recent years.

According to the federal government’s most recent tally of emissions, overall emissions from the oil and gas industry almost doubled between 1990 and 2018. But at the same time, the sector’s emissions “intensity” — the greenhouse gas pollution produced per barrel of oil — decreased by almost 35 per cent.

TC Energy says the Keystone XL project would “directly” create 13,200 jobs — 2,800 of them in Canada.

The company did not respond to questions from the Star on Tuesday.