Government pressed to take more active role

The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association is pressing the Alberta government to be more proactive in developing a policy to manage energy growth.

Failure by the province to become more engaged could mean projects will be delayed and more oil will be stranded if pipelines are not built by 2009 when existing pipelines will be operating at capacity, association president David MacInnis said.

He said the pressure is on Alberta to “develop an approach that is far more comprehensive and addresses the fundamentals and I don’t know if they have the game plan in place.”

MacInnis told the Financial Post that both the administration of Ralph Klein and the current premier Ed Stelmach are “behind the eight ball” at a time when companies need decisions to proceed with C$20 billion worth of pipelines to carry oil sands production to the United States by 2014. The pipeline association is calling for an “energy policy development framework” that requires a broader view of energy development and involves government, rather than the traditional hands-off style favored by industry.

But MacInnis said the marketplace is “not a perfectly functioning beast,” but neither does he believe that government can solve all problems.

He said his own association is not troubled by government involvement because it is already long-accustomed to the regulatory function played by federal and provincial governments.

—Gary Park