Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is between a rock and many hard places as she tries to pave the way for the expansion of a 1,150-km interprovincial pipeline to B.C. ports.
She is on a mission to promote the expansion of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, a week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave the go ahead to two pipeline projects that are critical to kick-starting the stalled Alberta economy.
The $6.8 billion project would triple the amount of oil products shipped along an existing route between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C. The project would have a huge impact on the Canadian economy through jobs and greater access to Asian markets. It is expected to generate 15,000 jobs a year during construction and another 37,000 jobs when it begins operating.
The pipeline approvals have been welcome news for an energy sector, which has lost nearly one-third of its jobs in three years.
St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse and Chamber president Lynda Moffat were quick to celebrate the pipeline approvals, which they said would be great for the local economy, especially its transportation and service sectors.
Moffat says the city is surrounded by transportation routes and is well positioned to benefit from the pipeline project. She says the service industry will benefit and that there may be a dramatic shift in the economy due to the pipeline construction.
“We have an airport on our doorstep that gives an excellent opportunity for oil and gas executives to work out of here or have their air access to the north right here,” Moffat said. “Our transportation routes are excellent as far as being able to service the north. I think we are very well positioned.”
However, not everyone is applauding the project.
Environmental groups, aboriginal groups, political parties, including the B.C. arm of the NDP party, and its on-again, off-again leader, are all lined up to oppose the project. Even Green Party leader Elizabeth May has vowed to go to jail to stop the project.
At home, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean says the pipeline approval is good news for Alberta; however, he disagrees with Notley’s argument that Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan has been the difference. He sides with the critics of Alberta’s carbon tax, saying it hobbles the province by charging more for energy while putting business at a disadvantage with trading partners like the U.S., which does not have a carbon tax.
Notley is plowing ahead with the both the tax and the pipeline. She is trying to build bridges pledging pipelines that would provide economic benefits to both provinces, be safer than rail transport and be built and operated to high environmental standards. On Tuesday, Notley told B.C. media the project will mean $1 billion to the B.C. economy.
Notley has an uphill battle if she hopes to get work started by the end of 2017 as Kinder Morgan proposes. Kinder Morgan must meet 157 regulatory conditions before it can go forward, never mind the legal and civil disobedience plans of its opponents.
But the benefits of Trans Mountain far outweigh the perceived risks. New pipelines are the safest way to bring Canadian oil to market and there is a lot of money to be made with this project across the country. The federal government approved the project because it’s in the national interest. It’s time for B.C. to do the same.
This is a fight Alberta and Canada needs her to win. But the odds are against her. She has a long line of people to win over and she will need a prime minister willing to step up and stand beside her.
