Federal Summer Jobs funds flow to pipeline opponents
B.C. group received federal cash to hire someone ‘to help ... stop Kinder Morgan pipeline’
OTTAWA — The federal Liberal government was accused Wednesday of helping to finance Trans Mountain pipeline protesters through the government’s Canada Summer Jobs program.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in question period, revealing that one of the successful applicants to the Summer Jobs program is a B.C. group looking to hire someone “to help ... stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline and tanker project.”
“Does he not realize that he is funding the very groups that are protesting against the project that is in the national interest?” Scheer demanded.
“We are talking about taking tax dollars from people who are out of work in the energy sector and giving it to people who are trying to block a project in the national interest.”
The B.C. group, Dogwood, however, has been receiving federal money for years — including from the previous Conservative government, Trudeau retorted.
“Unlike, apparently, the leader of the official Opposition, we believe in free speech,” he said. “On the issue of this particular advocacy group, it is important to highlight that it was also funded under the Harper government.”
The government has been under fire of late over the Canada Summer Jobs program — specifically a new requirement that organizations declare their support for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including women’s reproductive rights.
Kinder Morgan declared earlier this month it was halting all non-essential spending on the controversial expansion, which has been beset by protests and is at the centre of a fierce dispute between the governments of B.C. and Alberta.
The expansion — which B.C. is blocking — would twin an existing pipeline from Alberta’s oilsands to Kinder Morgan’s Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, where diluted bitumen would be loaded onto oil tankers for export.
Earlier Wednesday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and energy critic Guy Caron released a letter to Trudeau effectively accusing the Liberals of having decided to proceed with Trans Mountain well before the federal review process had completed its evaluation.
The letter cites recent media reports suggesting the government’s decision to proceed was a purely political calculation, rather than a decision based on whether or not the project would indeed be in the national interest.
“These revelations throw into question the legitimacy of the government’s entire review as they point to an approval based on political interests,” the letter reads.
“To address these serious concerns, we urge you to release all relevant documentation associated with the review process, including those subject to cabinet confidentiality.”
Trudeau has been unequivocal in declaring his government’s support for the Trans Mountain project. He’s dispatched Finance Minister Bill Morneau to meet with Kinder Morgan to find a way to ensure the expansion remains financially viable.
He has also promised legislation to reaffirm the federal government’s authority in deciding the fate of cross-boundary pipeline projects, although the details of what that bill will look like haven’t been released.
B.C.’s NDP government wants to restrict the pipe’s capacity until more is understood about how the material might behave in a marine environment, how it can be cleaned up and how a major spill might impact ocean life.
B.C. has said it plans to file a court reference by the end of April to determine if it can stop or restrict the flow of diluted bitumen through the province.