Just before the long weekend, Canadians received news that the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the existing government approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project. This same day, the sale of the pipeline from Kinder Morgan to Canadian taxpayers closed, to the tune of $4.5 billion.
This was not a good day for Canadians, including the many Indigenous people who support the project and the countless workers who would fill the jobs it creates. It was a sad day for anyone, anywhere in the country, who cares about whether their oil is produced ethically.
Over the past three and a half years, the Alberta NDP government has had many opportunities to stand up for our energy industry, but instead it has taken an apologetic approach, with the premier stating that Alberta was an “embarrassing cousin” for its environmental record. She told Albertans that only a carbon tax would buy us the so-called “social licence” we need to get a pipeline built. Then she appointed Tzeporah Berman, an anti-pipeline activist, to the advisory panel meant to give the NDP advice on the future of the oilsands.
Both the Northern Gateway and Energy East pipelines were cancelled without opposition from this NDP government. The premier even spoke against Northern Gateway during the last election campaign. This is why the Trans Mountain pipeline is so urgently needed; the other two pipelines failed under this government’s watch.
British Columbia Premier John Horgan and the illegal protestors at the pipeline’s construction site made it clear they would stop at nothing to block it. Yet the Alberta NDP prematurely declared themselves victorious and ridiculed the Opposition when we repeatedly warned them that paper approval from the Trudeau Liberals was not enough to ensure Trans Mountain would actually succeed.
The federal government continued to send money to B.C., all the while telling other provinces like Saskatchewan that unless they accepted a federally mandated carbon tax, federal funding would be withheld.
The Alberta government should have pointed out this double standard and demanded that the Trudeau Liberals stop sending money to B.C. while B.C. unconstitutionally blocked our oil. The NDP ignored this advice, making it obvious that they are not willing to stand up to their Liberal allies in Ottawa when it is in Alberta’s best interest.
The NDP also mocked the Opposition at the suggestion that Alberta “turn off the taps” to B.C. Later they introduced legislation allowing Alberta to do just that, although they did not act on it and B.C.’s NDP premier never took them seriously.
Moreover, a few months ago, I tabled a motion in the legislature calling on the NDP government not to increase their carbon tax until the Trans Mountain expansion is actually built -- but this motion was immediately voted down by the NDP without even a debate.
Prior to forming government, the NDP’s David Eggen called for “no new approvals for tarsands projects” during a rally at the legislature. The NDP’s Shannon Phillips helped Greenpeace activist Mike Hudema write a handbook offering guidance on how to obstruct resource projects.
In his quarterly fiscal update the morning after the court ruling against the Trans Mountain expansion, Finance Minister Joe Ceci absurdly claimed Alberta is still “on track,” despite the fact their fiscal plan for the province relies heavily on revenue from the Trans Mountain expansion.
The NDP have made a mess of our finances and floundered on Trans Mountain. This critically important project now hangs on by a thread. It will require true commitment, determination and leadership in order to revive our province’s economy and energy sector.
- Jason Nixon is the MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre.
