In response to increasing criticism and outrage from Western Canada, the new Liberal minority government has decided that it’s in their (and the rest of Canada’s) best interests to push through with the Trans Mountain pipeline.
After losing every single seat in both Alberta and Saskatchewan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has dialled back his climate policy rhetoric and opted for a more nuanced approach to balance the green push with realistic economic policies.
On October 23, he told a press conference that he will begin his second term as prime minister by working to ensure that oil producers can sell their product abroad at fair prices by moving forward with the pipeline. When asked why his parliament failed to win seats and represent Western Canada, he said that why isn’t the central question but how can the federal government mend the disconnect between West and East.
“We made a decision to move forward on the pipeline because it was in the interest of Canada to do so because the environment and the economy need to go together. We will be continuing with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion,” Trudeau said.
“Albertans and people in Saskatchewan have faced very difficult years over these past few years because of the global commodity prices, because of the challenges they are facing. For a long time, they weren’t able to get their resources to markets other than the U.S. We are moving forward to solve those challenges.”
According to CBC, the 1,150-kilometre pipeline expansion would roughly “triple the existing pipeline’s capacity to 890,000 barrels a day,” and would allow Alberta to ship oil through B.C. to international markets such as Asia.
The Liberal government has also stated its plans to use the additional oil revenues to transition to cleaner sources of energy, predicting up to $500 million for green energy projects.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said that the plan to extend the pipeline isn’t merely a ploy to mollify Alberta and assist negotiations between the minority government and the provinces. Rather, Morneau says that balancing the economy with green energy initiatives is a crucial part of the Liberal’s transitionary measures.
“We purchased [the pipeline] for a reason,” said Morneau. “We now see how it can help us accelerate our clean energy transition by putting any revenues that we get from it into a transition to clean energy. We think that is the best way we can move forward in our current context.”
According to CTV News, construction for the expansion is expected to be complete by the middle of 2022. The Liberal government has forecasted taking up to $125 million in revenue from Trans Mountain Canada each year up to the expansion’s completion and the $500 million each year after.
“My expectation is that we have much common ground between the other parties that have been elected to the next Parliament,” said Morneau.
“We will be seeking consensus on how we can move forward on that common ground. This project we’ve already moved forward on. It’s one that we’ve said that we’re moving forward on, we’ve actually already gone through that process.”
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