The National Energy Board (NEB) has given the green light for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion to proceed, but you can’t help but think we shouldn’t have needed to be at this point.
After all, the NEB has already green-lighted the project once before. The federal government had given this project its blessing. And the government has actually bought the pipeline and the expansion project from Kinder Morgan, after all sorts of hurdles were put in its place to keep it from happening.
And there was actually work underway on the project when the Supreme Court decided to block the project, and send it back to the drawing board.
Now we’ve gone through another round of consultations and assessments. The federal government will get to decide whether the pipeline proceeds, and when you consider how much money the feds have sunk into the pipeline with its purchase, you can be assured that the pipeline will get the stamp of approval from the feds and the senate, even though some left-leaning members of the Liberal Party would likely rather see the project meet its demise.
Trans Mountain will go down as a case study of how not to do a pipeline. Most Canadians know the pipeline is needed. They understand the value of getting our oil to market in the safest manner possible. They understand the economic benefits of a robust energy sector. And they grasp the need to balance the economy with sound environmental policy.
Trans Mountain seemingly met all of the criteria.
Yet because of bungling by the federal government, we found ourselves in a situation in which the feds had to purchase the pipeline, and then a lengthy assessment process was needed.
And there’s still no guarantee that the Trans Mountain expansion will be completed. In fact, there are still a lot of cynics who will tell you it’s not going to be built, and that Canadian taxpayers are going to be left holding the bag on this one.
Why do we get the feeling that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won’t be including the handling of the Trans Mountain Pipeline in campaign election materials this summer and fall?
The record of the Liberals, and their predecessors, the Conservatives, is not good when it comes to pipelines. We might get Trans Mountain. We’re going to get the Enbridge Line 3 replacement, which is thankfully underway, but it was the easiest to get built. We might get the Keystone XL Pipeline through the U.S., but that one is in limbo right now.
No Northern Gateway. No Energy East. That means we have a reduced ability to get oil to other markets, because we need other markets besides the U.S., which just happens to be our competitor.
And should Bill C-69 pass, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to get new pipelines built. Yes, we might have a change in government this fall, but we can’t bank on it. And investors are going to be skittish about investing in Canada even if there is a new government in power.
Some people will tell you that it’s time for the federal government to begin the phase-out of oil and other fossil fuels, and place a growing emphasis on renewables. That’s absurd. We’re going to need the oil and gas sector for generations to come.
Build the pipelines. Build refineries, too. Let’s embrace Canada’s place as a global energy powerhouse, while celebrating the fact that we go about things the right way, and have some of the most stringent environmental policies in place on the planet.
And don’t waste a resource by leaving it in the ground.
Our energy sector should be a source of pride for Canadians. But for it to remain that source of pride, we need the adequate infrastructure, including pipelines, and the ability to get the oil to market.
