FEDS CAST CLOUD OVER TECK APPROVAL
Talk of further Alberta climate concessions an unsettling development in ongoing saga
The federal Liberals seem to think they won’t approve the Teck Resources oilsands mine without squeezing something out of Alberta.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would surely like a win to wave at the NDP and Bloc Quebecois opposition.
New Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, speaking directly about the Teck approval, says: “What we’re looking for is concrete action on climate change.”
For starters, he has no business making policy demands in return for green-lighting a regulated project.
That utterly destroys faith in the regulatory systems Teck has spent 10 years dealing with on the long road to provincial and federal approvals.
But Wilkinson suggests the whole $20.6-billion project could be in doubt because of some perceived deficiency in Alberta’s climate action.
How much action does the guy want from this province?
Albertans are already paying carbon prices in line with other provinces. There’s an overall oilsands industry emissions cap of 100 megatonnes, as well as a carbon tax of $30 per tonne for heavy emitters.
That industry levy covers more than half of the province’s emissions.
Ottawa approved the regime after Premier Jason Kenney agreed to maintain the cap imposed by the NDP.
Maybe Wilkinson forgot that part?
On Jan. 1, regular Albertans began paying the federal carbon price of $20 per tonne. It will rise to $30 on April 1, thus matching the price imposed by the former NDP government.
Does Wilkinson refuse to give Albertans climate-change credit for paying the tax his government imposed? That too would be odd indeed.
He might want Alberta to withdraw its court challenge of the tax, but there’s probably no need.
No court yet has ruled to overturn the tax.
So, we pay.
And the only province that will elude the $30 price is Quebec, whose cap-and-trade system works out to about $20.
Maybe Wilkinson could demand that Quebec pay more, in order to make Teck palatable in the overall climate change picture.
Ha!
University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe says, “We have a robust carbon price in Alberta even after the changes introduced by the UCP.”
Trudeau himself gave credit to the NDP carbon tax when Ottawa approved the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Now, Wilkinson doesn’t seem ready to allow the same credit for the Teck project. Or for the 14 First Nations groups that support Teck.
The details signal a much wider and more dangerous trend.
Ottawa is inexorably expanding its direct political control over provincial resource projects.
The Liberals talked endlessly about removing politics from approvals during the debate over Bill C-69.
Now the fate of another project hangs on the whim of the most political body of all, the Trudeau cabinet.
Wilkinson says ministers might approve, reject or delay Teck.
And then he starts talking about Alberta’s climate action.
Tombe said the obvious in a tweet:
“Approval of a specific project should have zero to do with greenhouse gas emissions. If we want lower GHGS, then raise the carbon tax.”
Alberta Environment Minister Jason Nixon says, “We’re not going to tolerate changing the rules ... It’s completely unacceptable.
“The Teck project has gone through over a decade of reviews ... They went through the process, they’ve done nothing wrong.”
Asked if there could be side agreements with Ottawa, Nixon says, “From our perspective, there’s no need because this project has already been approved by both provincial and federal bodies.
“There’s nothing left for Alberta to give. We’ve met all the requirements ...
“We can’t have a stable regulatory system if the federal government is going to politically interfere, not just at the beginning of the process, but in this case at the end.
“That’s changing the rules after the game is played.”
As all this shapes up, there’s more uncertainty than ever over oil and gas development and investment.
Sometimes, it seems that’s just what the federal government wants.
Maybe Wilkinson could demand that Quebec pay more, in order to make Teck palatable in the overall climate change picture. Ha!