Pipeline policy dividing NDP
Positions raise prospect of rift within party
The prospect of an NDP government in British Columbia is exposing what could become an area of contention among federal NDP leadership hopefuls.
In the past week, some of the candidates have been staking out turf in the debate over Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan has vowed to fight if he forms a minority government with support from the B.C. Greens. The two parties struck a deal to work together last week.
Last Tuesday, Manitoba MP Niki Ashton released a statement calling for a “united stance against Kinder Morgan,” arguing that the NDP needs to “make a clear statement that stands up to big oil.”
And on Wednesday, B.C. MP Peter Julian tweeted: “Our members want us to take a stand on pipelines — I am opposed to them.”
Their positions raise the spectre of a rift with the NDP in Alberta, where Premier Rachel Notley continues to push for the pipeline.
“Mark my words, that pipeline will be built,” she said during a press conference last Tuesday.
Under leader Tom Mulcair, the federal NDP has taken a more moderate stance on pipelines, which he reiterated last week. The party opposes the Kinder Morgan pipeline on the grounds that the Liberals haven’t yet overhauled Canada’s environmental assessment process, but has not come out against pipelines point-blank.
“Mr. Trudeau promised that there would be a new system for evaluating these energy projects, whether it’s Kinder Morgan out west or Energy East to Atlantic Canada,” Mulcair told reporters. “The problem of course now is the fact that in the absence of that process, none of these projects can go ahead.”
Ontario MP Charlie Angus and Quebec MP Guy Caron, whose positions are similar to Mulcair’s, told the National Post that now is not the time to fan the flames of division within the party.
“I want us to walk a little more carefully than attempting to create regional divisions,” Angus said. “I hope that we don’t end up going down that road in the leadership race.”
Caron said he doesn’t believe there’s been enough discussion within the NDP on the pipeline question, and it’s the federal leader’s responsibility to ensure communication between the provinces.
Unlike the Liberals and Conservatives, the NDP’s federal and provincial branches are integrated in one party. Caron suspects Ashton’s statement won’t help build unity.
“We are very vulnerable as a party, especially when our opponents are usually better funded,” he said. “We can’t afford to get ourselves divided.”
But Ashton said NDP leadership candidates “need to be clear on where they stand.” She pointed to newcomer Jagmeet Singh, who has yet to take a clear position on the issue.
Ashton raised a question about Kinder Morgan during the leadership debate in Sudbury, Ont., on May 28, and said she was “disappointed” not to get a response from Singh or Pat Stogran, who has since dropped out of the race.
An NDP insider told the National Post it may be to the candidates’ advantage to take a clear stance on the pipeline issue, adding that disagreement with Alberta may not be their biggest concern, since it’s unclear how the political situation will unfold for Notley’s government.
At the moment, the party is not concerned that tensions with Alberta will escalate, the source said.
Singh’s campaign told the National Post on Thursday that he “will be introducing a comprehensive policy offering on climate change in the weeks ahead.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has so far remained steadfast in his support of the Trans Mountain project.
“The decision we took on the Trans Mountain pipeline was based on facts, evidence, on what is in the best interest of Canadians, and indeed all of Canada,” he said during a press conference in Rome last Tuesday.
Nonetheless, Conservative B.C. MP Mark Strahl introduced a motion Thursday urging the House of Commons to agree that the project “should be constructed with the continued support of the federal government.”
During debate over the motion, which the NDP opposed, he took a shot at Mulcair.
“Rachel Notley has been adamant that this pipeline has to be built,” he said. “Clearly there’s a divide in the NDP.”
WE CAN’T AFFORD TO GET OURSELVES DIVIDED.