Conservative Keystone XL motion denied by committee

The cancellation of Keystone XL will not be considered by Ottawa’s natural resources committee. Recently, on Monday, a majority vote defeated a Conservative motion to highlight and study the cancelled pipeline project. Despite repeated efforts made by the Official Opposition, a lack of support from Liberal and other members put the final tally at 7-4 against.

“This is deeply discouraging for so many people in the Southwest,” said Jeremy Patzer, MP for Cypress Hills— Grasslands. “It adds insult to injury with a major setback for Canadians, especially our energy workers.”

With an incoming U.S. administration in January, the pipeline lost the approval which it had previously held. Conservative members introduced their motion during the first week of committee meetings for the new year. Following over two weeks of delay, the vote took place on Monday afternoon.

While noting the loss of jobs and investment in Canada, as well as broader consequences for economic recovery, the motion called for public testimony from the Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Regan, along with other relevant witnesses.

While bringing the motion back for debate at a prior meeting, Patzer added, “In particular, I think, in my riding, of the Neekanet First Nation, of which the chief is the president of Natural Law Energy, who had an equity stake invested into Keystone XL pipeline. There are several other groups, of course, who are interested, be it workers, be it companies, that would want to see this study done and completed and see the government takes seriously that this project is a must-have for Canada.”

While continually raising the issue in Parliament and in committee, Patzer recently sent an open letter to President Joe Biden along with fellow Conservative MP Damien Kurek representing Battle River—Crowfoot in Alberta.

“You will find that if Canada, alongside our provinces and the industry, are given the opportunity to make the case for this project with politics put aside, the evidence and science will speak volumes about the benefits and need for this pipeline,” they wrote.

The committee will be continuing to study critical minerals and battery value chains, which follows a longer series of meetings about Canadian forestry.

cparkinson@tabertimes.com

The slow roll-out of vaccines across the country has left Bow River MP Martin Shields unimpressed.

While the Public Health Agency of Canada is expecting more than 640,000 shots this week, the roll-out overall has been slow across Canada and Shields explained why he thinks it’s been so slow-moving.

“Initially, they attempted to make a deal with China on the CanSino agreement to develop the vaccines in China. I don’t know why they would go to China to do that. I mean, why can’t they figure out this is not something you should be doing with China. So after 100 days, China says ‘Nope, we’re not doing it,’ well that put them behind in two ways,” he said. “One — we have companies in Canada. One in Calgary with Providence and one out east, who were already starting to work on this. They contacted Health Canada and Health Canada didn’t respond to them, so that’s the first thing. They didn’t look to capacity within our own country to see what they could do or support them in developing a vaccine within. The second thing — as they built contracts with foreign companies to supply the drugs, they didn’t negotiate the right to produce or replicate them within our own country like Australia has done.”

With no vaccines being created in-house, Shields expressed his disappointment around the fact those contracts signed did not allow for development within Canada.

“Even though they have a zillion contracts, now that they are not produced within our own country, then you get held up, like we are, by the companies doing whatever they are doing with the vaccines. Those two fundamental mistakes have created challenges because the vaccines and the belief of what those vaccines could do for those who want to have a vaccine, it has delayed things. It’s false promises, they shouldn’t have gone to China and they should have negotiated like other countries to produce and replicate them under the contract with those companies in our own country,” continued Shields. “They’ve signed those contracts that don’t allow them to do that, so I’m not sure if there is any other way. They have given a little bit of money to Providence in Calgary and the one in the east, but we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars for these contracts. I think we could be in vaccine boosters for the long haul here and supporting the local development of vaccines in this country is the way out.”

The federal government still contending fall 2021 is the timeline for when every Canadian who wants a vaccine can get one, Shields still isn’t 100 per cent convinced. He stated there have been several promises made that have yet come to fruition regarding the federal government. Another big concern from Shields is the fact the provinces will be the main source of distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines, and with large shipments coming in at once, he’s worried they won’t be prepared enough.

“That’s what they keep saying, but they’ve said other things too that haven’t happened. What I believe is going to happen is — we are going to get a massive number of doses that come in at one time and then they’ll ship them by huge masses out to the provinces. Because of the logistics of dealing with it in the provinces, they are going to blame the provinces, I bet. I’ve already heard in the House, if the provinces can’t deal with massive numbers, they are going to blame the provinces for distribution and that’s not how it should be.”

With property crime a leading concern for many Albertans, the Alberta RCMP continues to focus on its Crime Reduction Strategy – an intelligence-led approach to policing that enables RCMP to identify repeat offenders and crime trends, as well as conduct targeted enforcement and prevention initiatives. Over the past year, the organization’s strategy had notable success, recording improved crime rates across the province.

Included in the RCMP’s Crime Reduction Strategy are initiatives like Data 2 Action – a program that focusses resources on the province’s most vulnerable communities, targeting prevalent crime types in those areas. Launching two years ago, the program has since grown and is now overseen at a district level, allowing Data 2 Action to be implemented in more communities throughout Alberta.

As well, the Alberta RCMP operates Crime Reduction Units in all four districts of the province; these teams consist of experienced police officers, criminal analysts, and civilian staff specialized in targeting repeat offenders who impact communities most.

After the realization that certain rural properties were repeatedly being targeted for crime, Project Lock Up was also launched under the Crime Reduction Strategy, in 2019. This collaborative, intelligence-led program allows RCMP and citizens to work together to respond to repeat victims of property crime. From March 2019 to April 2020, the number of top-targeted properties – properties that previously experienced the highest rates of repeat crime – dropped by 55.4%, meaning Project Lock Up efforts, including targeted patrols, have contributed to substantially decrease the number of repeat victimizations.

In 2020, the Alberta RCMP saw improved crimes trends throughout the communities it serves. From January through December 2020, there was a 17% decrease in Break & Enters in Alberta RCMP jurisdictions compared to 2019, and a 19% decrease in Theft of Motor Vehicles. Theft Under $5,000 also declined, dropping by 22%, with 7,852 fewer cases reported than the previous year. Overall, there were 14,230 fewer Property Crime offences and 21,285 fewer Total Criminal Code offences in 2020

“The Alberta RCMP recognizes that crime rates inevitably fluctuate, rising and declining over time. While the nature of crime cannot be controlled, the RCMP can account for the plans it has in place to manage it. As Alberta’s provincial police force, we are confident that our Crime Reduction Strategy is making an impact and yielding positive results,” Explained Superintendent Peter Tewfik, Officer in Charge, Alberta RCMP Crime Reduction Strategy.

Albertans can stay informed about crime rates in their area by accessing the Alberta RCMP Crime Map at CrimeStoppers.ab.ca, or by visiting the RCMP’s Data and Innovation webpage, which highlights key statistics and information on policing initiatives throughout the province.

Overall, the Alberta RCMP is dedicated to reducing crime and will continue to collaborate with communities, partner agencies, and government at all levels to do so. By working together, we can be a stronger, safer Alberta.