The many ways B.C. Premier John Horgan is wrong about Trans Mountain
CALGARY — In the face of widespread concern that the last remaining Canadian oil export pipeline project is on the verge of collapsing, B.C. Premier John Horgan is responding with so much indifference over the distress he’s causing, dishonesty about the facts and narrow-mindedness about his responsibilities as a leader, that his constituents should worry about his judgment.
Here are the many ways Horgan is wrong:
In a press conference Sunday after Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. said it would suspend all non-essential activities on the project due to “continued active opposition from the government of British Columbia,” Horgan went so far as to say: “I respectfully disagree that this project is in the national interest.”
The rookie premier, head of a minority government clinging to power by a partnership with three Green MLAs, sees himself as the more appropriate arbiter of what projects should go ahead for the good of the nation than the comprehensive, multi-year reviews conducted by the National Energy Board and the federal cabinet.
“It is our view that provincial jurisdiction should prevail in many areas that are affected by this process,” Horgan said. “We said from the beginning that the NEB process was flawed.”
Should, would, could. Trans Mountain followed all the rules, and then many more imposed by his predecessor, Christy Clark. Horgan needs to accept that and move on.
Horgan denies his government is harassing the project. That’s rich, since his government made it its priority to use “every tool in the toolbox” to frustrate it. It has done that through lawsuits, regulations, support for Burnaby’s denial of municipal permits, even working closely with foreign-funded eco-activists orchestrating protests to disrupt work at the pipeline’s Westridge terminal.
While it’s his job to enforce the law, Horgan praised protesters who got arrested. “Investors at Kinder Morgan have to be moved by the passion of British Columbians that are emerging in many dozens to be arrested on a daily basis,” he said.
Here’s a more accurate reading of the situation: Investors are horrified that B.C., under Horgan, is institutionalizing environmental extremism. Val Litwin, president and CEO of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, said if the pipeline can’t move forward it will have broad implications for resource development in B.C. and Canada.
“This is a federally approved undertaking and our Prime Minister can’t afford to ease up on public efforts to see this project complete; he must take actions to guarantee this project is built as Canada and B.C.’s reputations as markets worthy of investment depend on it,” Litwin said.
Horgan said there should be no retribution against B.C. for the collapse of the Trans Mountain expansion because “the Energy East pipeline was stopped and there was no consequences from that. The Keystone XL pipeline was stopped and may well begin again, and there was no adverse consequence as a result of that. It is my view that British Columbia should have an equal say to other jurisdictions when these projects come forward.”
The Energy East pipeline was not federally approved when it was cancelled. The Keystone XL pipeline was spiked by U.S. President Barack Obama’s permit denial. In contrast, the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain expansion has been approved both by Ottawa and B.C., after meeting five conditions laid out by Clark. Horgan doesn’t seem to grasp the implications of messing with a lawfully approved project.
“The current developments are a real test of Canada’s commitment to the rule of law and the ability of any resource company to rely on the legal approval process for projects,” said Dwight Newman, one of Canada’s top constitutional scholars and Munk senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
Horgan doesn’t accept that his intransigence could compromise Canada’s climate change plan.
“Canada is embarking on what they should, a comprehensive national plan to fight climate change,” he said. “And I support that. In fact, British Columbians have been supporting that for the past decade. We have $35 a tonne levied on carbon pricing here in British Columbia, the only province in the country to do so.”
In reality, the survival of the national plan is not about B.C. It’s about Alberta, in particular, accepting more than its share of pain to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in exchange for pipeline approvals. If Horgan kills Trans Mountain, it could be the end of fellow NDP Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, and the election next year of United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney, who has promised to immediately repeal the carbon tax if he gets elected and to be less reasonable with B.C.’s obstructionism.
To diminish the importance to Alberta and Canada of the Trans Mountain project, Horgan refers to it as a Texas project, adopting the pejorative jargon of eco-activists dependent on U.S. funding and organizational support to run their campaigns.
“The interest of the Texas boardrooms are not the interests of British Columbians,” Horgan said. In fact, Kinder Morgan Canada has been publicly traded since last year and is 77-per-cent owned by Canadians, with Manulife and TD the biggest shareholders. Its shippers are predominantly Canadian oilsands producers and Canada as a whole benefits from the pipeline’s opening of the Asian market.
Horgan says he has “no intention of escalating controversy across the country” and that his preoccupation is the people of British Columbia, ensuring they have affordable homes and a prosperous economy that is mindful of the environment.
In reality, British Columbians are conflicted about his heavy-handed pipeline crusade. According to a recent Abacus Data Inc. poll of 900 B.C. residents, more people support than oppose the project. Among the 62 per cent who find persuasive the argument that the “project will greatly increase the risk of an oil spill,” more than half (59 per cent) also find the argument that “stopping this pipeline could end up polarizing the country and lead to a reduction in the commitment to fight climate change” is persuasive.
Horgan’s actions have already triggered a trade war with Alberta, fomented irrational fears about oil spills, put the spotlight on B.C. for all the wrong reasons, and exposed his province to potentially hard retribution from both from Alberta and from Ottawa. If Horgan doesn’t see that, he’s not looking.
Financial Post
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