TURMOIL ON TRANS MOUNTAIN
Workers pawns in pipeline ‘game’
A political blame game broke out Tuesday in Ottawa as MPs on the natural resources committee took turns accusing each other of fumbling the ball on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Conservatives blamed Liberals for messing up consultations with First Nations communities.
Liberals blamed Tories for the Harper government’s changes to environmental and energy regulations earlier this decade.
The NDP took great delight in blaming both sides.
With no clear time frame for getting the project back on track, there will be plenty of time for recriminations.
However, for thousands of construction and oilpatch workers counting on Trans Mountain to create jobs and ignite future investment, this isn’t about politics or pointing fingers.
It’s about getting a job and earning a paycheque.
“For those that were already working, it’s a real blow,” said Ryan Bruce, spokesman for the CLAC union in British Columbia, which represents about 125 members working on the project in Alberta and B.C.
“I’m talking to our members and there is a lot of stress (about) paying mortgages and feeding their families.”
Last week’s Federal Court of Appeal ruling nullified the federal permit for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, a $7.4-billion project designed to almost triple the amount of oil moving from Alberta to the west coast.
The court found there was inadequate consultation by the government with Indigenous communities over the project, as well as improper consideration by the National Energy Board over increased marine traffic tied to additional oil flowing west.
The decision has cast a dark cloud over the project’s future and construction jobs tied to it.
According to Trans Mountain officials, more than 2,000 people now work on the project. By the middle of next year, that number was expected to grow to 5,000.
No one has been laid off because of the ruling. But job losses are expected in the weeks ahead.
“Right now we are working on how to ramp down the different construction sites that were already underway,” said Trans Mountain spokesman Ali Hounsell. “In terms of how many people are going to be out of work as a direct result is not clear at this point.”
What is clear is the project will be delayed. At best, it could be stuck in stasis for months.
At worst, the latest setback could lead to years of legal, political or regulatory wrangling that never ends.
Either way, the outcome is negative for workers counting on a job building the energy infrastructure.
“For some people, this almost becomes a bit of a game, but for our members, it’s no game,” said Brad West of the United Steelworkers District 3, which represents more than 1,000 workers at Evraz North America’s steel plant in Regina, which is building pipeline for the project.
“This is really serious for us.” For the Christian Labour Association of Canada, which represents about 75 project workers in British Columbia and more than 40 in Alberta, members were counting on Trans Mountain generating thousands of jobs over the next three years.
“At 3 p.m. Thursday, it was sort of ‘tools down’ and everyone go home,” Bruce said, noting B.C. employees expect to receive an update as early as Wednesday.
In Alberta, CLAC executive director Wayne Prins noted the project was expected to create work for more than 600 people in this province once construction was fully underway.
He worries the endless difficulty getting the pipeline built will bleed into other investment decisions being cancelled, affecting future opportunities for workers.
“For the politicians involved, they’ll be quick to blame each other and that’s part of the racket, but it really doesn’t solve anything. Meanwhile, there are real people suffering real consequences,” he said.
“It has huge implications on this project, but how will we ever measure the consequences for projects that never leave the boardroom table because there is zero confidence?”
Confidence is now in short supply.
The pipeline was expected to be finished and moving additional crude in December 2020, but the timeline is now murky.
Employers and employees counting on the project are now waiting to see what the federal government does next.
Speaking in Surrey, B.C., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated Tuesday the federal government will work to resolve the problems identified by the judges.
But there’s a lot of skepticism about the future.
“There’s lot of people to blame for this. Governments and regulators have to stand up and take the hit,” said Jordan Bateman of the Independent Contractors and Business Association in B.C.
“No one ever talks about the actual front-line workers, and that’s what is unfortunate here.”
Energy analysts say the delay could curtail oilsands spending as companies wait to see if Canada’s transportation bottleneck is cleared up.
With existing pipelines full, the price differential for western Canadian crude hovered around US$30 a barrel late last week. It’s expected to remain wide until new export pipelines are constructed.
Major oilsands producers such as Suncor Energy have previously indicated they will not make major new investments in Canada until there’s improved market access.
Ultimately, the Trudeau government needs to act quickly and map out its next steps — and show it’s not giving up, said University of Alberta School of Business dean Joseph Doucet.
“Quitting would say, ‘Well, let’s throw our hands up and acknowledge that we can’t build big projects like this in Canada,’” he said.
“The ball is squarely in the federal government’s court right now. The government and prime minister have to come forward fairly quickly … and commit to the employees of the company — and to Canadians and shippers — that construction will restart.”
Thereisa lot of stress (about) paying mortgages and feeding their families.