NO CLARITY ON PIPELINES
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet recently held a three-day retreat in beautiful Kananaskis.
It was puzzling to hear the PM remark he brought his ministers to Alberta so they could better understand the economic challenges the province is facing after the collapse of oil prices. There was a meeting with Premier Rachel Notley and a few of his ministers had appointments in Calgary, but they were, to a large extent, cloistered in the mountains, removed from ordinary Albertans.
“We continue to monitor the situation around employment numbers, we continue to be very aware that one of the fundamental responsibilities of any government is to get our resources to market, but the way to do that in the 21st century is to make sure that it’s done responsibly, sustainably,” Trudeau said.
He voiced a similar sentiment in Saskatchewan later in the week: “One of the fundamental responsibilities of any Canadian prime minister — and this goes back centuries, from grain on railroads to fish and fur — is to get Canadian resources to international markets.”
The prime minister’s statements aren’t very convincing. He says getting resources to market is a fundamental responsibility of government, but has failed to do anything to accomplish that task.
Since becoming prime minister, Trudeau has made it less likely that pipeline projects will proceed by adding convoluted environmental assessments and giving a stronger voice to those who oppose such infrastructure, regardless of the projects’ safety and technical merits. His government has also said cabinet will have the final word on pipeline approvals — a measure that inserts politics into what should be a straightforward regulatory decision.
Trudeau has also called for a moratorium on tankers along British Columbia’s north coast, a move that would appear to scuttle the Northern Gateway pipeline, based on its current route.
Trudeau said the Kananaskis retreat included talk about measures to encourage economic growth in Canada, with particular emphasis on Alberta, but when pressed, he didn’t specify how the province had figured in the conversations.
The fact is that Trudeau’s expressions of concern for our province don’t square with his government’s actions. He wasn’t telling Alberta or the energy industry anything new when he said pipelines must be “done responsibly, sustainably.” That is a given.
What isn’t a given is whether Trudeau is committed to pipeline projects — something he calls a “fundamental responsibility” of government. These are important initiatives that will provide benefits for Canadians and their governments across the entire country.