Trans Mountain decision comes at critical time for Canada’s energy sector

[Anonymous]

After years of uncertainty and delays, the federal government will reportedly make a decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on June 18.



Reports suggest Ottawa will "likely" approve the project and all Canadians should understand how important this decision will be for the country's energy sector and future investment.



Obviously, the country's energy sector matters.



[size=150]The oil and gas industry accounts for 8% of Canada's economy and generates a significant amount of revenue for governments.[/size]



Nowhere is this more true than in Alberta where the sector accounts for 30% of the province's economy.



However,[size=150] despite its importance, the industry has suffered in recent years due largely to poor government policies, both provincial and federal.[/size]



Of course, lack of new pipeline capacity remains an ongoing problem for the sector, greatly reducing the price Canadian oil producers receive for their products. I



In fact, [size=150]according to a recent study, insufficient pipeline capacity and its subsequent discounted prices for Canadian oil cost the energy sector $20.6 billion — or 1% of the country's economy — in foregone revenues last year.[/size]



Canada's energy sector — again, particularly in Alberta — has also endured uncompetitive taxes and regulations, especially when compared with the United States.



The federal government, and many key provincial governments including the former government in Edmonton, have increased taxes and regulatory requirements including the federal carbon tax, a provincial cap on greenhouse gas emissions, new regulations of methane emissions, stricter ethanol regulations and a mandated coal-phase out.



And the Trudeau government's proposed Bill C-69 and Bill C-48 will impose further barriers to energy development.



In contrast, the U.S. has taken a number of steps to promote energy development. The Trump administration rescinded or scaled-back several regulations including restrictions on hydraulic fracturing on federal lands and, along with U.S. Congress, implemented sweeping tax reform that dramatically lowered business taxes to promote investment and entrepreneurship.



The result of this divergence in policies is that the U.S. is enjoying a thriving energy sector while Canada's continues to languish.



Consider that a recent study found that between 2016 and 2018 the U.S. has enjoyed a 41% increase in investment in its upstream oil and gas sector (essentially, exploration and production) compared to only a 15% increase in Canada.



Which takes us back to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the last of three major pipeline expansions in Canada still under consideration.



Next month's decision by the federal government will signal whether or not the near unprecedented level of legal, political and regulatory uncertainty in our energy sector will continue.



Remember, the proposal to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline between Edmonton and Burnaby, British Columbia, was first approved by the federal cabinet in 2016, but the expansion has yet to be built.



It's clear that Canada's uncompetitive taxes and regulations — particularly regarding pipeline approvals — are eroding the country's attractiveness for investment.



By approving the Trans Mountain expansion next month, the federal government could help restore investor confidence in Canada's energy sector, a fundamental part of the Alberta economy and a key element of the country's economic wellbeing.

https://calgarysun.com/opinion/columnists/guest-column-trans-mountain-decision-comes-at-critical-time-for-canadas-energy-sector">https://calgarysun.com/opinion/columnis ... rgy-sector">https://calgarysun.com/opinion/columnists/guest-column-trans-mountain-decision-comes-at-critical-time-for-canadas-energy-sector



Make no mistake, Canada's slumping oil and gas sector is due to deliberate sabotage by the Trudeau regime and his allies in Quebec, BC and most importantly the outgoing regime of Rachel Notley. The US oil and gas sector is booming and wages for that industry South of the border are now higher than in Canada.

[Anonymous]

Let's talk honestly about Trans Mountain concerns



Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I get why Vancouverites don't want an oil spill in Burrard Inlet, which for all intents and purposes is their city's front yard.



I've spent four days overlooking Coal Harbour, the section of the Inlet east of Stanley Park and adjacent to the vaulting towers of downtown Vancouver.



The other morning while walking the shoreline a great blue heron swooped close enough overhead that both my wife and I swore we felt his wings beat. We also had to stop momentarily while a goose and gander nudged their goslings across our path and into Lost Lagoon.



Nearby, a seagull dismembered a starfish, limb-from-limb, until he could swallow the creature's core, whole.



All this is in the centre of a city of over a million people.



But if you look past the runners, walkers, cyclists and rollerbladers on the Seawall, past some of the most expensive condos on the continent and some of the most amazing restaurants, past the crab fishermen, rowers, rhododendrons, cedars, yachters, kayakers and gargantuan cruise ships, all framed by stunning mountains in the backdrop, you notice something else – the third-busiest port on the continent and the No. 1 North American port for exports.



One-third of all of Canada's exports to the rest of the world (not including the United States) pass through the Port of Vancouver.



Trains rumble in hour after hour bringing goods from all over B.C., all over Western Canada, even from several American states to be taken to over 150 countries by tanker, container and cargo ship.



Just across the water from the chic, floor-to-ceiling glass skyscrapers are a dozen or more huge marine terminals loading grain, chemicals, forestry products, steel, machinery, coal, potash, fuel and, yes, Alberta oil and bitumen.



Immediately opposite Stanley Park lies Vancouver Wharves which is distinguishable by its heaping tailings cone of sulphur. Next door to that is one of the largest wood-chip and pellet docks in the world.



The port is the reason most of the rest of Vancouver exists. Each year, $200 billion in goods passes through here. Over 100,000 jobs depend on the export business.



I understand the desire of Vancouverites to keep this gorgeous waterway clean, so I can feel their concern over tankers and the Trans Mountain pipeline.



But the concern is both hypocritical and disconnected.



[size=150]The hypocrisy comes from singling out Alberta oil for attack. Why oppose Trans Mountain while leaving all the remaining vast flow of natural resources unmolested? Why no "kayak-tivism" (paddling out and chaining your kayak to the kayaks of other seaborne demonstrators) against timber or coal? Vancouver is the largest port on the West Coast for the export of soft, U.S. coal which produces far more emissions and pays no carbon tax.[/size]



[size=150]The disconnect comes from not understanding that all the towers and condos and parks along the waterfront exist mostly because of all the timber, coal, sulphur and, yes, oil that passes through this port. Baristas, teachers and bicycle mechanics all do their bit, but a modern, prosperous economy is not sustained by sales of half-sweet, no-foam, soymilk, caramel macchiatos or fair trade, bamboo dashikis.[/size]



This is why Bill C-69, which is currently before the Senate has to be scrapped – not amended, but scrapped altogether. Not only will it make future pipelines impossible, but, as witnesses before a Senate committee have testified, high-speed trains, bridges, solar and wind electricity farms, transmission lines and marine terminals are also threatened.



Power plants, too, will be hard to build. And without oil, all those electric cars the eco-activists are dreaming of are going to need a lot more power plants. (Another example of the disconnect of naive idealists.)

https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/gunter-lets-talk-honestly-about-trans-mountain-concerns">https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnis ... n-concerns">https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/gunter-lets-talk-honestly-about-trans-mountain-concerns



The disconnect and hypocrisy of both Montrealers with foreign oil tankers supplying their daily living needs as opposed to Western Canadian oil and British Columbians not protesting potash, chemicals and American coal, but thinking Alberta oil is the devil shows mass media demonizing of Canadian oil by foreign billionaires is working.

[JOE]

Is there a need for a pipeline anymore since theyve figgered out how to package bitumen from the tarsands into hockey pucks then transport them by rail?



Seems thatd be the better way to transport oil by rail carrying pucks than a pipeline

[Anonymous]

After years of uncertainty and delays, the federal government will reportedly make a decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on June 18.



Reports suggest Ottawa will "likely" approve the project and all Canadians should understand how important this decision will be for the country's energy sector and future investment.



Obviously, the country's energy sector matters.




Rachel Notley and her cabinet were anti Alberta oil activists before they were elected and continued to be after being elected to run the province..



She appointed prominent anti Alberta oil activists with no engineering background like Tzeporah Berman to prominent advisory roles they were unqualified to be on.

[Anonymous]

Is there a need for a pipeline anymore since theyve figgered out how to package bitumen from the tarsands into hockey pucks then transport them by rail?



Seems thatd be the better way to transport oil by rail carrying pucks than a pipeline

The CN trial of that hasn't even started yet and even they admit it's not a substitute for pipelines.



Tarsands, JOE, you're a terrible troll.

[Anonymous]

Is there a need for a pipeline anymore since theyve figgered out how to package bitumen from the tarsands into hockey pucks then transport them by rail?



Seems thatd be the better way to transport oil by rail carrying pucks than a pipeline

The CN trial of that hasn't even started yet and even they admit it's not a substitute for pipelines.



Tarsands, JOE, you're a terrible troll.

Sixty year old virgins are discussion wreckers. They are bitter and irrational and understandably so.

[Anonymous]

BC opposes increases traffic off it's coast, but it's adding 22 new ferries to transport all the visitors to the islands. And they won't won't disturb marine life.

[cc]

Excellent point - shows true motive^^





BREAKING: Court rules against the B.C. government on pipeline challenge



https://globalnews.ca/news/5311260/bc-court-of-appeal-trans-mountain-ruling/">https://globalnews.ca/news/5311260/bc-c ... in-ruling/">https://globalnews.ca/news/5311260/bc-court-of-appeal-trans-mountain-ruling/



B.C. had asked the court to rule on whether it has the constitutional power to regulate the flow of bitumen through a system of permits.



The five-member panel of judges unanimously ruled against B.C., finding that pipelines fall under federal jurisdiction.



In the court's decision, Justice Mary Newbury wrote that B.C.'s proposed environmental regulations would have improperly restricted the flow of oil through a federal undertaking, and that it appeared to unfairly target the Trans Mountain expansion project.



{of course bc will appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, sigh}

[Anonymous]

Excellent point - shows true motive^^





BREAKING: Court rules against the B.C. government on pipeline challenge



https://globalnews.ca/news/5311260/bc-court-of-appeal-trans-mountain-ruling/">https://globalnews.ca/news/5311260/bc-c ... in-ruling/">https://globalnews.ca/news/5311260/bc-court-of-appeal-trans-mountain-ruling/



B.C. had asked the court to rule on whether it has the constitutional power to regulate the flow of bitumen through a system of permits.



The five-member panel of judges unanimously ruled against B.C., finding that pipelines fall under federal jurisdiction.



In the court's decision, Justice Mary Newbury wrote that B.C.'s proposed environmental regulations would have improperly restricted the flow of oil through a federal undertaking, and that it appeared to unfairly target the Trans Mountain expansion project.



{of course bc will appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, sigh}

I knew the Horgan regime's legal challenge would fail.

[Anonymous]

Father and son Trudeau govern by throwing the prairie provinces under the bus. I expect Western separatism to rise again if JT gets a second term.



From Sun News Media



WESTERN CANADA'S LOSING PATIENCE

Trudeau government's pipeline politics a deliberate attack on Alberta



The federal Liberal government intends to play Western Canadians for fools – again.



Between now and the end of the Parliamentary session later this month, the Trudeau government will approve the Trans Mountain pipeline for a second time. And then while the country is mesmerized by that, the Liberals will ban the shipping of Alberta oil by tanker from ports on the northern B.C. coast and pass an impossible new environmental assessment bill.



In effect, the Trudeau government intends to give us one small-ish new pipeline, then slam the door shut on all possible future ones.



And the Libs are thinking we're dumb enough to be deceived by their sleight-of-hand.



Or maybe the Liberals know Westerners won't buy this container of garbage labelled as "plastics for recycling." Maybe it's just Central Canadians the Liberals are convinced will eagerly take delivery of this load of rubbish – "Look what a great job Justin is doing, respecting the environment while also recognizing the need for economic development."



Still, there is a very good chance not one metre of the Trans Mountain expansion ever gets built, while it is absolutely certain that if Bills C-48 (the tanker ban) and C-69 (the new assessment law) get passed, no additional pipelines will ever get built to a coastal port.



The Liberals are cynical plotters. They know the moment they approve Trans Mountain, well-funded environmental groups, backed by foreign money, will go to court for injunctions against construction.



Approving Trans Mountain will not be popular in Quebec or in B.C.'S Lower Mainland – two regions the Liberals must carry in order to hold onto power in the October election. They will be praying the eco-activists win their injunctions, so Trudeau and his ministers can claim they'd love to get started (a lie) but their hands are tied by the need to respect the judicial process.



There will be no real decision on Trans Mountain until well after this fall's election – perhaps as late as 2021.



However, the tanker ban and new assessment laws will have immediate effect. Even if those, too, go to court. (Alberta's new UCP government has promised to sue Ottawa.) No investors are going to risk billions of dollars on new oil and gas developments with those clouds hanging over the whole of Canada's energy industry.



[size=150]Alberta and Canada are losing somewhere in the range of $50 billion a year in foregone investment in new energy projects because the Trudeau government (and formerly Alberta's Notley government) have been so hostile to oil and gas development.[/size]



Even if the courts ultimately side with Trans Mountain a couple of years from now, that's another $100 billion lost in the meantime. Moreover, the damage to Canada's reputation as a stable place to invest will ripple through our economy for many years beyond that.



[size=150]Make no mistake, if Bills C-48 and C-69 pass unamended, they constitute a direct and deliberate attack on Alberta and its economy. Period.

[/size]

Will their passage fan the flames of separatism in the West? My sense is: Yes, but not immediately.



Look at the vote for the Alberta Independence Party in the April provincial election – just 0.7 per cent, provincewide.



But that could change if the rest of the country foists another federal Liberal government on us in October.



The West stuck around last time Ottawa launched an attack on our resources (National Energy Program) because the Reform party came along and demanded more power in the central halls of power. Then the country elected a prime minister from the West, Stephen Harper, and we felt there was real hope our lopsided Confederation would begin to respect our goals.



But if Justin Trudeau gets a second term, and if an independence leader arises, I'm not sure how much patience the West will show for sticking around a second time.