McIver, Prentice exchange pipeline jabs
Three leadership candidates in general agreement on other issues
CALGARY — Ric McIver slammed Jim Prentice in a Tory leadership forum Thursday for leaving the job “undone” when he resigned a corporate position aimed at smoothing the path for the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
Prentice had accepted a post in March with Enbridge to negotiate with British Columbia First Nations on the pipeline development.
But the former federal Conservative cabinet minister left his position when he launched his bid to become Progressive Conservative leader last month.
At the forum sponsored by the PC Youth Association at Calgary’s Pumphouse Theatre, Prentice reiterated his position that the Alberta premier has the primary role to play in helping to move forward the controversial Gateway project, which will face continued opposition even if the federal cabinet gives it the go-ahead by Tuesday’s decision deadline. But McIver suggested Prentice has missed an opportunity to make a difference.
“Did you not leave a job with Enbridge actually negotiating the pipeline?” the Calgary-Hays MLA jabbed at Prentice. “The fact is you left it undone.”
McIver said his experience as transportation minister successfully negotiating with the Tsuu T’ina Nation on Calgary’s long-awaited southwest ring road showed his mettle in addressing First Nations concerns.
But Prentice fired back, noting his tenure as Indian and Northern Affairs Minister in the Harper government had included negotiating the residential schools settlement among other dealings with First Nations.
“I don’t think that’s a record I have to defend. Now, going forward, the point I’ve made is Enbridge cannot do this alone. I have opened doors for Enbridge ... this cannot be done by the private sector alone. Anyone who tells you it can, doesn’t know what they’re talking about. It is going to take whoever is the premier of Alberta, working with the private sector, with the First Nations of the coast to make this happen,” he said.
The $6.5-billion Gateway project would ship bitumen from northern Alberta to the B.C. coast for shipment to Asia. Opening the Asian market to Alberta energy projects is of massive importance to the province’s PC government because of the current price discount on Canadian crude in the United States.
Edmonton Castle-Downs MLA Thomas Lukaszuk said governments and the private sector need to move beyond simply trying to pay off aboriginal communities to allow projects such as pipelines to go through. “Instead say, ‘how much of a shareholder do you want to be to get this pipeline through your land?’ ... We need to make sure the language changes and we actually create opportunities for aboriginal communities,” said Lukaszuk.
But Lukaszuk’s suggestion that the ring road agreement was an example of a “onetime cash deal — you name the price we’ll pay it” drew an emotional response from McIver, who said the former deputy premier was dismissing the hard work and personal relationships involved.
The exchange around pipelines was one of the few moments of drama at the forum, with the three leadership candidates in general agreement on issues such as the need for charter schools and taking on debt to pay for infrastructure. Prentice — who has the support of at least 45 Tory MLAs — is the clear front-runner.