Economy 12 Years and $34 Billion Later, Canada's Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Is Nearing The Finish Line.

Alberta launches lost-revenue counter in campaign for Trans Mountain pipeline expansion
Lydia Neufeld · CBC News · Posted: Nov 14, 2018

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The Alberta government launched a lost-revenue counter on Wednesday that suggests $80 million is being lost across the country each day without the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled against the $7.4-billion project on Aug. 30, saying the federal government had failed to conduct meaningful consultations with Indigenous people, as required by law.

The counter will be displayed on digital advertising boards at locations near Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and supported in various broadcast and digital formats across the country, said Deron Bilous, Alberta's economic development and trade minister.

"We will keep the federal government's feet to the fire so that this project isn't delayed any further," Bilous said. "This is a project that is absolutely critical, that needs to move forward."

Alberta's Keep Canada Working campaign is making a difference, Bilous said.

In early 2016, four in 10 Canadians wanted to see the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion move ahead.

That number is now seven in 10, an increase Bilous said is due to Alberta's nationwide efforts.

The Alberta government has spent $10 million on the campaign so far, he said. The first phase was launched in February; this is the second phase.

"We've seen how much this has moved Canadians as far as their understanding on the importance of this very issue," Bilous said.

"Fifteen thousand jobs and billions of dollars in GDP is worth the advertising dollars to educate and tell not just Ottawa but all Canadians, again, how we are the world's most responsible energy producer."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmo...-digital-counter-alberta-government-1.4905387
 
Regulator Backs Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion
By Kevin Orland and Josh Wingrove | February 22, 2019

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Canada’s energy regulator recommended approval of the government-owned Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, clearing one of the major obstacles for the project to move forward.

The National Energy Board said in its report released Friday that it would impose 156 conditions on the project if the government ultimately approves it, and the regulator made an additional 16 non-binding recommendations to the government. The government of Canada had directed the NEB to look at the project again, examining in particular marine shipping risks, after a court ruling last August struck down its initial approval from 2016.

The NEB’s recommendation represents one of two key hurdles that Trans Mountain -- a highly anticipated lifeline for Alberta’s pipeline-starved oil producers -- needed to clear in order to move forward after the federal court found the project’s regulatory review was inadequate. The government also was required to conduct more consultations with indigenous people along its route, and those meetings are ongoing.

The Canadian government bought the pipeline last year, and now has to make a final decision on whether to build the expansion of the project it now owns. It has 90 days to make the decision, though it has indicated it will take as long as it needs to make a final judgment, Robert Steedman, chief environment officer of the National Energy Board, said at a press conference in Calgary.

‘Important Milestone’

Canadian Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi said the report was an “important milestone” in the response to last year’s court ruling, and will inform the government’s ongoing indigenous consultations.

“We are hopeful the work we are doing will put us in a strong position to make a decision within the NEB’s legislated timeframe,” he said.

That timeframe is officially 90 days, but the government can extend it.

The Trans Mountain expansion would roughly triple the capacity of the more than 60-year-old line, helping carry almost 600,000 more barrels of oil and fuels a day from Edmonton to a shipping terminal near Vancouver, where they could be loaded onto tankers and shipped to markets in Asia.

Adverse Effects

Shipping is “likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects” on area whales, and on indigenous use associated with the whales, while the NEB found greenhouse gas emissions from shipping will likely be significant, the regulator said. But the agency considers those risks justified “in light of the considerable benefits of the project and measures to minimize the effects.”

Of the 156 conditions included in the NEB report, only six were revised from the project’s previous approval. The revisions require the project to file plans for preventing and responding to spills and protecting marine mammals, and confirm vessel and operations standards. None of the new conditions are related to the pipeline’s construction.

The Canadian government bought Trans Mountain for C$4.4 billion ($3.5 billion) last year -- paying what the country’s budget watchdog called “sticker price,” or at the high end of the estimated value -- after Kinder Morgan Inc. threatened to abandon the project because of persistent delays. The government has vowed to get the expansion built and said it will not be a long-term owner of the pipeline.

Trans Mountain is one of three major pipelines that Alberta’s oil producers are counting on to help them move more of their crude to market. The others are Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 expansion, scheduled to come into service in the fourth quarter, and TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL, which may begin construction later this year and go into service two or three years later.

The pipeline shortage has weighed on prices for Canadian heavy crude, prompting Alberta to order an unprecedented mandatory production cut to help alleviate the logjam and work down a glut of oil that had built up in storage. The shortage also prompted producers to ship more crude via costlier rail.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...onditionally-approves-trans-mountain-pipeline
 
B.C. seeks pipeline 'veto' in new court battle with Ottawa, Alberta
What B.C. is proposing is unconstitutional, according to the federal Attorney General
Geoffrey Morgan | March 18, 2019​

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ALGARY – British Columbia’s government argued in court Monday that it should have the authority to limit oil shipments within the province, which could effectively “veto” new pipelines at a time when all active export projects out of Canada have been delayed.

In a highly anticipated reference case at the B.C. Court of Appeals, the province’s government along with support from the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby are squaring off against the federal government, supported by governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan, over the restriction of oil shipments on federally regulated export pipelines, such as the Trans Mountain expansion project, and on railway cars.

Joseph Arvay, acting on behalf of B.C., argued the case is about “the extent to which our federal constitution will permit the province to protect its people, its land, its water, its flora, its fauna from environmental harm.”

But that’s not how the federal government sees B.C.’s proposal and said in a written submission that the law would effectively give B.C. “a veto” over federally authorized, interprovincial infrastructure projects.

“B.C.’s proposed regime is unconstitutional. Despite its stated purpose of environmental protection, its pith and substance is the regulation of interprovincial oil transportation,” the federal Attorney General’s submission to the court states.

The reference case is central to the pipeline debate in Canada and being closely watched in the oilpatch, which expects fresh delays for TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline to the U.S. and is dealing with current delays to the Trans Mountain pipeline and Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3.

The National Energy Board released a report on Friday that said more pipeline capacity is needed to get Canadian oil and gas to market and that the current system is working efficiently, despite concerns that “air barrels” in the lines were inefficiently clogging the systems.

But the current pipeline system is unable to handle all of the oil production in Western Canada and pipeline supporters such as Enbridge Inc. and, notably, the Lax Kw’alaams Indian Band near Prince Rupert, B.C. have also lined up to support the federal government’s argument.

The Lax Kw’alaams’ submission to the court states the provincial government’s move would also hamper the Eagle Spirit Energy pipeline project, an early-stage pipeline proposal which would bring oil and gas from Alberta to northern British Columbia.

“By giving a provincial decision-maker a veto power uncontrolled by regulatory guidelines or administrative appeal to the Environmental Appeal Board, the proposed legislation would effectively stop any federally approved interprovincial oil transportation system dependent on venture capital,” the submission states.

As Arvay began presenting B.C.’s case on Monday, Justice Harvey Groberman questioned him at multiple points on whether there were any laws in Canada where federal and provincial authority didn’t intersect or overlap with each other.

“I can’t think of any, frankly,” Groberman said.

The reference case is highly academic — arguing which level of government has authority in specific cases — but has the potential to expose divisions between the Western provinces and with the federal government.

“Just as a federal law may apply to a provincial undertaking… so too, a federal undertaking is not immune from provincial laws,” Arvay said in court.

https://business.financialpost.com/...o-in-new-court-battle-with-ottawa-and-alberta
 
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Regulator Backs Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion
By Kevin Orland and Josh Wingrove | February 22, 2019

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...onditionally-approves-trans-mountain-pipeline
If Minnesota Governor Tim Walz wants to slow construction, I wonder if it would be possible to change the last leg of the Line 3 pipeline to go to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Enbridge should get a foot in the door in Ontario while it has a pro-oil government under Premier Doug Ford.

From: https://globalnews.ca/news/4953446/...vironmentalists-on-enbridges-line-3-pipeline/
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday that his administration will keep pursuing an appeal of an independent regulatory commission’s approval of Enbridge Energy’s plan to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota, siding with environmental and tribal groups in his biggest decision since becoming governor last month. ...
 
Crazy how BC is completely fine with importing overseas oil by sea non-stop while fighting the good fight here against pipelines.

Must be fun to manage being a holier-than-though hypocrite.
 
Canada says B.C. trying to impede Trans Mountain with pipeline legislation
The Canadian Press · Posted: Mar 20, 2019

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The Canadian government says British Columbia is trying to obstruct the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion with "Trojan Horse" legislation that the province is passing off as a benign environmental measure.

Lawyer Jan Brongers asked the B.C. Court of Appeal on Wednesday to reject proposed amendments to the province's Environmental Management Act, because the changes aim to regulate interprovincial oil projects that fall under federal jurisdiction.

"This legislation appears to be a Trojan Horse. It's one that is designed to appear as constitutionally acceptable, local environmental protection measures," he told a panel of five judges.

"But in substance, it's an unconstitutional initiative that's only logical reason for being is to limit federally-regulated pipelines and railways from moving additional heavy oil."

The Appeal Court is hearing a reference case on the proposed amendments, which would enable B.C. to create a permitting regime for companies that transport hazardous substances through the province.

The province has argued it's not attempting to block Trans Mountain or any other resource project, but is aiming to protect against ecological harm and require companies to pay for damages.

Brongers said the proposed amendments are clearly intended to hinder additional oil shipments because they're selective, narrow and targeted.

The only hazardous substance covered by the amendments is heavy oil, Brongers said, and only companies that intend to increase the amount of heavy oil they're transporting will need to get a permit.

"We still don't know why the volume of diluted bitumen that's in the existing Trans Mountain pipeline is somehow deserving of an automatic exemption from the regime, but the new volumes that would be carried by the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline are not," Brongers said.

Justice Harvey Groberman challenged Brongers on that point, saying these are amendments to legislation and are presumably designed to deal with a new problem.

"The fact that it's directed at that emerging or new problem doesn't seem to me to prove anything other than that the legislation is targeted," Groberman said.

The amendments also don't apply to ships, and Brongers quoted B.C. Attorney General David Eby as saying last year that tankers were excluded because they are under federal jurisdiction.

Brongers said B.C. has suggested that heavy oil is the first of a number of hazardous substances to be targeted by the proposed permitting regime, but the province has not said what those other substances would be.

Horgan cited

Premier John Horgan and other B.C. government officials have stated on multiple occasions, primarily while in opposition, that they were opposed to the Trans Mountain expansion and were looking for legal tools to stop it, Brongers noted.

After taking power in 2017, the minority NDP government received legal advice that it doesn't have constitutional authority to directly stop the project, but it did have the authority to apply conditions and impose regulations to protect its coast, he said.

Brongers quoted Horgan as telling a reporter that the proposed amendments were about ensuring that increased heavy oil shipments through the province "don't happen in the future."

"The proposed legislation's real purpose and effect, is the creation of a mechanism — a tool in the toolbox — to potentially impede additional heavy oil originating outside of British Columbia from being transported through the province," Brongers said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/brit...-mountain-with-pipeline-legislation-1.5064980
 
'A stampede of stupid': Rachel Notley urges Senate to block oil tanker ban bill
Alberta premier tells senators Bill C-48 is 'divisive' and undermines national unity
John Paul Tasker · CBC News · Apr 09, 2019

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Alberta Premier Rachel Notley makes an announcement in Calgary on Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Notley has urged senators to kill Bill C-48

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley took her crusade against the Trudeau government's tanker ban bill to the Senate today, telling senators the legislation unfairly targets her province by banning oil tankers from docking along B.C.'s north coast at time when the oilpatch is already on the ropes.

Speaking to members of the Senate's transport committee Tuesday, Notley said Ottawa is playing a dangerous game by banning oil tankers from the region and described the bill as more of an "Alberta ban."

"After all, Bill C-48 still lets massive LNG tankers travel those same waters. It's not really a tanker ban at all. It's a ban on energy resources produced in Alberta, by Canadians, from getting overseas," Notley said.


"It is a policy that is very divisive," said Notley. "It's the kind of policy that represents little more than a stampede of stupid. Ultimately, what you're going to do is hurt our country and that sense of unity — those are the stakes."

The bill in question would ban tankers capable of carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of oil from an area that stretches from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border.

The legislation formalizes a similar, voluntary ban that has been in place in the region for the last 20 years.

B.C. Indigenous peoples are split on the bill, with coastal First Nations more supportive than those in the interior who stand to gain economically from any sort of pipeline running through their lands.

Coastal First Nations have said a spill would threaten the viability of a diverse fishing industry that sustains well over 1,000 jobs in the area.

With Bill C-48, the Liberal government has sought to block projects like the now-defunct Northern Gateway project — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet killed that project on the day they first approved the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. The Enbridge-backed Northern Gateway was a proposed $8 billion project meant to carry diluted bitumen produced in Alberta's oilsands to Kitimat.

'Don't block us. Back us. Toss C-48': Notley

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The federal Liberals are pushing for passage of C-48 just as Alberta is grappling with a series of problems plaguing its energy industry — a decline in investment, historically low commodity prices and constrained pipeline capacity. As Premier Notley reminded senators today, the legislation has stirred up considerable anger in the province.

"I am a little worried that much of what we value as Canadians is at risk. Albertans are not actually the biggest fans of Ottawa these days. That's the G-rated way to put it," she said. "If you want to know why, one of the things we could do is look no further than C-48.

"Don't block us. Back us. Toss C-48 in the garbage where it belongs."

The Senate Conservatives have steadfastly opposed the legislation at every turn, but the Independent Senators Group (ISG), a caucus composed largely of Trudeau appointees which now constitutes a majority in the upper house, are divided.

Trudeau has defended the legislation by saying that B.C.'s Great Bear rainforest is simply too pristine for a crude oil pipeline like Northern Gateway or the Indigenous-backed Eagle Spirit, a $16 billion pipeline project proposal that would carry heavy crude from Fort McMurray to the Grassy Point port near Prince Rupert, B.C.

That argument was echoed in a statement from Delphine Denis, a spokesperson for Transport Minister Marc Garneau, who said Tuesday the bill presents "a balanced approach that will allow job-creating projects in our energy sector to move forward, while also protecting the incredible environment that coastal and Indigenous communities call home."

"The creation of this legislation was not taken lightly or impulsively, and responds directly to the call and advocacy of the local coastal Indigenous communities," Denis said. "Bill C-48 demonstrates our government's firm belief that a clean environment and a strong economy go hand-in-hand."

Notley said Tuesday there is no crude tanker ban on Canada's east coast, which has areas of its own that are pristine and known for their natural beauty. The Hibernia operation in Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, produces tens of thousands of barrels of oil each year. Tankers carrying foreign oil travel the St. Lawrence Seaway every day to deliver product to refineries in Quebec.

While demanding that C-48 be scrapped entirely, Notley said another controversial piece of Liberal legislation — Bill C-69, which seeks to overhaul the environmental assessment process — can be salvaged if Ottawa makes necessary amendments.


"I think that we've presented a pretty easy path for the federal government to do the right thing so I hope they take that path," Notley said. "I'm hopeful that we're going to see that result, ultimately."

Another Senate body, the Red Chamber's energy committee, is studying Bill C-69 and is currently on the road meeting with people in Western Canada. Senators were greeted by protesters in Calgary Tuesday who urged the committee to overhaul the legislation to avoid devastating Canada's oil sector.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tasker-notley-toss-c-48-tanker-ban-1.5090568
 
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Canada extends deadline for Trans Mountain pipeline decision to June 18
Nia Williams | April 18, 2019

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CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canada has extended the deadline for a decision on whether to push forward with the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline to June 18 from mid-May, the government said on Thursday.

The Trans Mountain expansion (TMX) project would nearly triple the amount of crude flowing from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia’s coast, but has been beset by regulatory delays and opposition from indigenous groups, environmentalists and the government of British Columbia.

Amarjeet Sohi, Canada’s minister of natural resources, said the delay would give the federal Liberal government more time to consult with indigenous groups impacted by the pipeline.

“The Government has consistently said that a decision would only be made on the project once we are satisfied that the duty to consult has been met,” he said.

However, Conservative shadow minister for natural resource Shannon Stubbs said the delay meant another summer construction season would likely be missed.

“There is also still a very real risk that the Liberals will cancel this project for political reasons,” she said in a statement.

Last August, the Canadian government bought the pipeline from Kinder Morgan Canada for C$4.5 billion ($3.37 billion) to ensure it gets built.

That came after Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal overturned the Liberal government’s 2016 approval to expand the pipeline. The court ruled Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) regulator had not considered marine impacts and the government had not adequately consulted indigenous groups.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government ordered a new NEB review of Trans Mountain last September, and in February the regulator recommended the government approve it a second time.

The NEB also made new recommendations to mitigate harm to Pacific Ocean killer whales, which environmentalists warn will face disruption from increased oil tanker traffic.

Alberta’s Premier-designate Jason Kenney, who won a landslide election victory in the oil-rich province on Tuesday, said he had spoken with Trudeau about the delay.

“I agree with the Prime Minister that they need to make sure they cross every ‘t’ and dot every ‘i’ when it comes to discharging the federal government’s duty to consult,” Kenney told a news conference. “We certainly do not want them to go back to the drawing board a third time on this.”

RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Tran said the short delay to the decision would not materially impact the energy sector.

“The government is taking its time to make sure the right decision is made and it’s communicated the right way to the masses,” Tran said.

Trudeau’s Liberals face a federal election later this year in which the environment and pipelines will be major issues.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...in-pipeline-decision-to-june-18-idUSKCN1RU1LS
 
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Pipeline constraints cost Canadian oil producers $20 billion in lost revenue last year
Canadian crude traded at a discount of $26.50 US a barrel last year compared to West Texas Intermediate
John Paul Tasker · CBC News · Apr 30, 2019

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People protest Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline outside the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver, April 18, 2018
Canadian oil producers could have collected $20 billion more in revenue last year if they'd been able to sell their product at prices closer to the going world rate, according to a new study from the Fraser Institute.

The conservative-leaning think tank said that, based on its calculations, Canadian heavy crude oil traded at an average discount of $26.50 U.S. a barrel last year relative to West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. gold standard. That price discount is far larger than it was in the preceding five years, when producers were seeing a gap of just $11.90 U.S. a barrel.

The price differential is attributed to continuing capacity constraints with existing pipelines and perpetual delays to proposed pipeline projects like the Trans Mountain expansion.

The think tank estimated that if pipeline space had been more in line with current production levels, Western Canadian Select, which includes product from the oilsands, would have traded at an average price of $52.90 U.S. last year, instead of the $38.30 U.S. Canadian producers actually collected.

That price difference, multiplied by the nearly 3 million barrels of oil Canada sent to the U.S. each day last year (minus what the think tank calls discounts for transportation costs and inherent "quality differences" — Canadian crude is heavier than light U.S. oil and thus harder to refine), works out to $20.62 billion in lost revenue potential for Canadian oil companies like Cenovus and Husky.

And because oil is one of the country's most valuable exports, the estimated revenue loss works out to approximately one per cent of Canada's national gross domestic product (GDP), the institute said.

With 99 per cent of Canadian crude exports destined for refineries in the U.S., producers are forced to either store product and wait out price dips or offload product at discounted rates.

Other companies have turned to crude-by-rail transport — a far more costly and potentially more dangerous option — to send product to the Gulf Coast, where prices are higher for Canadian heavy crude than they are at midwest U.S. refineries.

The Federal Court of Appeal quashed cabinet approvals for the Trans Mountain expansion project last August, citing inadequate consultations with Indigenous peoples and incomplete environmental assessments. The federal government has vowed to build the project despite its legal challenges, but no construction start date has been announced.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pipeline-constraints-cost-20-billion-canadian-oil-report-1.5116790
 
The only thing happening here is OPEC/foreign interests fighting against Canadian's interests. It's ridiculous.
 
The only thing happening here is OPEC/foreign interests fighting against Canadian's interests. It's ridiculous.
Yup. And using Canadian pawns to do so. the main interests are actually big US oil interests who are reaping the profits and cheap oil as a result.
 
lol at Kinder Morgan. Sold their stock recently. They weren't granted an exemption from steel tariffs. Their pipelines are gonna cost more now.
 
The only thing happening here is OPEC/foreign interests fighting against Canadian's interests. It's ridiculous.

Do hypocritical BC tree-huggers count as "foreign interests"? Listen to them talk and it certainly sounds like they don't give a damn about their fellow Canadians. Or may be that's just Canada's usual attitude towards their Albertan ATM.

As for the solution to the stalled TMX, I think accepting the First Nation's bid to buy into the project would shut a lot of mouths up.


First Nations group plans $6.8B bid for majority stake in Trans Mountain
April Fong, BNN Bloomberg | March 28, 2019

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A First Nations consortium is planning to offer about $6.8 billion to buy a 51 per cent stake in the Trans Mountain pipeline, which the federal government purchased last year from Kinder Morgan Canada.

Delbert Wapass, former chief of Thunderchild First Nation and current vice-chairman of the Indian Resource Council, is leading the effort as executive chairman of a group called Project Reconciliation.

The planned bid by Wapass’ group was first reported by The Globe and Mail.

Wapass told BNN Bloomberg that Project Reconciliation has met with investment banks and held a number of informal talks with government officials, adding that the group is within "striking distance" of making a formal bid.

“We’re very close. If there was an announcement tomorrow or next week [by the federal government], we’d be ready. We’ve done a lot of work,” Wapass said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg’s Catherine Murray Thursday.

He added that preliminary discussions with government officials – including the Deputy Minister of Finance – have been met with optimism.

“They see the situation. They see the need of First Nations people standing up and trying to do something that is going to benefit all people – not only First Nations, but Canadians as a whole,” Wapass said.

The group has already begun inviting First Nations groups in Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. to become partners in its bid for Trans Mountain. Wapass said that while the response has so far been positive, he acknowledges that there will be opposition from some communities.

“We expect that those First Nations that don’t want to get involved [with Trans Mountain] are going to be very adamant about staying out of their territory,” he said. “Once we’re given the opportunity to share what we’re all about, what we’re going to be doing, the decision is theirs."

“We’re not there to dictate nor are we there to push ourselves on anybody.”

The Canadian government bought the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline and related assets for $4.5 billion last summer, after Kinder Morgan threatened to abandon its expansion project because of persistent delays. The Trudeau government has pledged to get the expansion built – which would roughly triple the capacity of the existing pipeline – and has said it will not be a long-term owner of the pipeline.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said previously that the government will not negotiate the sale of Trans Mountain until after construction of its controversial proposed expansion is “de-risked.”

Court-ordered consultations with affected Indigenous groups are expected to wrap up in May, allowing the expansion to go to Ottawa for a decision on approval.

In a statement earlier this week, Morneau said if the expansion project gets the go-ahead, the government would be "committed to exploring the possibility of Indigenous economic participation."

Wapass indicated that while the group is estimating it will pay $6.8 billion, it would be willing to increase that price for a majority stake in the pipeline.

“We want to demonstrate that we’re open for business and we know how to do business as First Nations people. And being stewards of the land we’ll demonstrate we know how to bring the balance that’s required to be a successful business,” Wapass said.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/first-n...or-majority-stake-in-trans-mountain-1.1236418
 
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Do hypocritical BC tree-huggers count as "foreign interests"? Listen to them talk and it certainly sounds like they don't give a damn about their fellow Canadians. Or may be that's just Canada's usual attitude towards their Albertan ATM.

As for the solution to the stalled TMX, I think accepting the First Nation's bid to buy into the project would shut a lot of mouths up.


First Nations group plans $6.8B bid for majority stake in Trans Mountain
April Fong, BNN Bloomberg | March 28, 2019

2019_3_28_54e0ce66-05b6-4c48-9df7-1061db0ed1e3_JPG_762x423.jpg


A First Nations consortium is planning to offer about $6.8 billion to buy a 51 per cent stake in the Trans Mountain pipeline, which the federal government purchased last year from Kinder Morgan Canada.

Delbert Wapass, former chief of Thunderchild First Nation and current vice-chairman of the Indian Resource Council, is leading the effort as executive chairman of a group called Project Reconciliation.

The planned bid by Wapass’ group was first reported by The Globe and Mail.

Wapass told BNN Bloomberg that Project Reconciliation has met with investment banks and held a number of informal talks with government officials, adding that the group is within "striking distance" of making a formal bid.

“We’re very close. If there was an announcement tomorrow or next week [by the federal government], we’d be ready. We’ve done a lot of work,” Wapass said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg’s Catherine Murray Thursday.

He added that preliminary discussions with government officials – including the Deputy Minister of Finance – have been met with optimism.

“They see the situation. They see the need of First Nations people standing up and trying to do something that is going to benefit all people – not only First Nations, but Canadians as a whole,” Wapass said.

The group has already begun inviting First Nations groups in Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. to become partners in its bid for Trans Mountain. Wapass said that while the response has so far been positive, he acknowledges that there will be opposition from some communities.

“We expect that those First Nations that don’t want to get involved [with Trans Mountain] are going to be very adamant about staying out of their territory,” he said. “Once we’re given the opportunity to share what we’re all about, what we’re going to be doing, the decision is theirs."

“We’re not there to dictate nor are we there to push ourselves on anybody.”

The Canadian government bought the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline and related assets for $4.5 billion last summer, after Kinder Morgan threatened to abandon its expansion project because of persistent delays. The Trudeau government has pledged to get the expansion built – which would roughly triple the capacity of the existing pipeline – and has said it will not be a long-term owner of the pipeline.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said previously that the government will not negotiate the sale of Trans Mountain until after construction of its controversial proposed expansion is “de-risked.”

Court-ordered consultations with affected Indigenous groups are expected to wrap up in May, allowing the expansion to go to Ottawa for a decision on approval.

In a statement earlier this week, Morneau said if the expansion project gets the go-ahead, the government would be "committed to exploring the possibility of Indigenous economic participation."

Wapass indicated that while the group is estimating it will pay $6.8 billion, it would be willing to increase that price for a majority stake in the pipeline.

“We want to demonstrate that we’re open for business and we know how to do business as First Nations people. And being stewards of the land we’ll demonstrate we know how to bring the balance that’s required to be a successful business,” Wapass said.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/first-n...or-majority-stake-in-trans-mountain-1.1236418

Well, good point, but I mean they're all fed propaganda by foreign interests IMO.

I don't like the idea of native tribes owning it. Sounds ridiculous to me personally. Where does this go no one knows. But I guess it's better than the pipeline being down until who knows when.
 
Well, good point, but I mean they're all fed propaganda by foreign interests IMO.

I don't like the idea of native tribes owning it. Sounds ridiculous to me personally. Where does this go no one knows. But I guess it's better than the pipeline being down until who knows when.

The terms sounds pretty good to me:

Political rivals find common ground on Indigenous ownership of Trans Mountain pipeline
CHRIS VARCOE, CALGARY HERALD| March 29, 2019

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Ottawa set down several guiding principles this week for discussions with Indigenous groups interested in buying a piece of the pipeline, which the Trudeau government purchased last year for $4.5 billion.

Those guidelines include Trans Mountain must be operated on a commercial basis, that impacted communities have a chance for meaningful economic participation, and that Indigenous ownership help trigger economic development of their communities.

Project Reconciliation, a group formed last year to acquire a majority stake in the pipeline, has contacted First Nations across Western Canada to gauge their support for getting involved.

Delbert Wapass, former chief of the Thunderchild First Nation in Saskatchewan and chairman of Project Reconciliation, said the response has been encouraging.

He believes the new federal principles, along with the support of Alberta’s political leaders, are giving the idea momentum.

“This here would be a game changer for many First Nations, where they would have the opportunity to have a better quality of life for their people,” Wapass said Friday.

“We are not asking for preferential treatment or special treatment, or asking to use taxpayer money … we will get the financing, we will do the business in a responsible, structured way. That’s what it means to us as First Nations.”

https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/c...digenous-ownership-of-trans-mountain-pipeline
 
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