Nobody can accuse the federal government of not wanting Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion to proceed.
Why else would they shell out $4.5 billion of our taxpayer dollars to purchase the project from Kinder Morgan?
Sure, there’s the element of trying to save face. The government was facing the proposition of Kinder Morgan walking away from the project all together, a development that would have been disastrous for the federal Liberals. They have already kyboshed the Northern Gateway Pipeline in B.C., and their actions directly led to the demise of the Energy East Pipeline into Atlantic Canada.
This wasn’t a three strikes and you’re out situation for the Liberals, but the demise of a third pipeline project on their watch would have left many wondering about the government’s ability to handle the energy sector.
And while they’ve voiced support for Trans Mountain, the Liberals didn’t exactly make it easy for the project to proceed.
So now we, the taxpayers, own the pipeline expansion, at least until the Liberals sell it to an investor, which will happen eventually. Until then, though, Canadian taxpayers are on the hook for the purchase, the construction and the operations of this project.
And in a beautiful piece of irony, pipeline protestors now own a piece of the project they loathe.
Hopefully the federal government will see a return on their investment, but it’s not a guarantee.
There’s lots of blame to go around. The federal Liberals deserve some of the blame. They made it difficult for this project to proceed, and then when Kinder Morgan met all of the criteria, the Liberals couldn’t stonewall it any more.
But obviously the biggest share of the blame for this situation goes to the loophole government currently leading B.C., which seemingly wants to make life difficult for anything opposed by the provincial Green Party, which is propping up the B.C. government.
They’ve done everything they can to impede this project. They’ve delivered court challenges. They oppose a project that the majority of B.C. residents want to proceed.
So much for heeding the concerns of the people.
The Liberals have put themselves in a tough situation with Trans-Mountain. If the pipeline expansion would have died, then they’d be digging a deeper hole with business leaders.
There are already enough concerns regarding investment in Canada. The demise of a pipeline expansion would only further those fears.
By allowing Trans-Mountain to happen, and by purchasing the project, the Liberals have angered environmentalists, and while many of them are clueless when it comes to economics and the energy sector, they are pretty good at chanting and drawing attention to themselves.
Ultimately, Trans-Mountain needs to happen. It’s for the good of the economy and the country as a whole. But this mess associated with the pipeline is happening during the Liberals’ watch, and people will remember it during the next election.
