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Mr. Knowles goes to Ottawa and finds himself among friends No support for ANWR drilling, but a willingness to fast track pipeline approvals; Goodale welcomes Knowles’ moderate tone Gary Park PNA Canadian Correspondent
It was two days of making friends and influencing people, as Gov. Tony Knowles visited Canada’s capital, impressing the highest level federal politicians and leaving equally impressed with what he found.
He had sessions with Prime Minister Jean Chretien and a raft of senior cabinet ministers from a special committee appointed this year to work on energy policy as he lobbied for Canada to fast track its regulatory approvals for an Arctic pipeline.
What might have been a chilly atmosphere, given Canada’s unyielding opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Canadian concerns that North Slope gas could shunt the Mackenzie Delta aside, showed instead that the two sides could disagree without being disagreeable.
Knowles openly conceded there was no appetite among the Canadians for exploration in ANWR.
“ANWR is not supported by any of the agencies,” he said, adding that he found “sharp disagreement” with President George W. Bush’s policy on the issue.
But there was no hint that Canada, despite the urgings of aboriginals or northern politicians, would attempt to play ANWR off against approvals for an Arctic pipeline from the North Slope. Knowles urges action The thrust of Knowles’ message to the Canadians was the urgent need to move forward on Arctic gas development, or risk losing out to other fuels.
“The economic benefits of two pipelines to our nations and the affected regions are enormous — thousands of jobs and billions in revenues,” he said.
“We are looking to build a long Canadian-American partnership for a new era of North American energy cooperation.”
But he told the national Press Club that “only with a sense of urgency and a spirit of cooperation can we take advantage of the narrow window available for the development of Arctic gas. It’s Arctic gas versus coal and nuclear.”
He dangled the prospect of 6,000 direct jobs in Canada and the United States during three to five years of pipeline construction and estimated the project would generate more than $3 billion in federal revenues.
Without giving any ground in his argument that North Slope gas should proceed before the Mackenzie Delta, he said there was enough gas and enough project U.S. demand to support two delivery systems.
“We don’t believe it’s an either-or situation,” he said. “Alaska is not looking to take market share. We are looking to share in the market growth.” Mackenzie line will be needed He said a second line along the Mackenzie Valley would be needed a few years after the Alaska Highway project and Canadian producers would still be able to build their sales in the United States even with North Slope gas moving to market.
Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Ralph Goodale said he was heartened to hear Knowles views on the outlook for Mackenzie Delta gas and said he found the governor’s tone more moderate that some in Alaska who were promoting the Alaska Highway pipeline over Canadian sales.
In his bid to clear red tape, Knowles found a strong ally in Justice Minister Anne McLellan.
A spokesman for McLellan said Knowles wanted to make sure that “government permitting does not stand in the way of a project. The minister signaled her hope that the regulatory process would be carried out expeditiously.”
Just prior to Knowles’ visit, Goodale had announced that a myriad of regulatory agencies would confine a Mackenzie Valley pipeline to a single environmental review.
He said the government would implement a “one-project-one-assessment” model similar to that deployed successfully for the C$3 billion Sable gas project offshore Nova Scotia.
A draft framework will be developed for the Mackenzie Delta and offshore Beaufort Sea by September. “The idea is to make it as quick as possible,” said a spokesman for the National Energy Board. Canada pleads for respect of sovereignty However, Goodale, in a speech to the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, made several pleas for the United States to respect Canadian sovereignty and various regulatory bodies, saying American protectionist tendencies have been a problem in the past.
He later told reporters that the issue of protectionism surfaced 18 months ago, when some U.S. producers and U.S. senators were lobbying to reduce the flow of Canadian gas imports that they claimed was distorting the marketplace.
Goodale also denied that Canada was “rolling over” by not contesting Alaska legislation barring an “over-the-top” pipeline route.
He said the Canadian government is probing the legality of that legislation under the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement and will decide whether challenges are possible.
“I think there are some serious questions raised about its legal or its international efficacy,” he said. “I would not at this point be spooked with the Alaska legislation.”
Goodale said it was understandable that the United States would promote its interests first. Canada should be “equally aggressive and proactive” in making the point that it had no intention of becoming the 51st state in terms of meeting U.S. energy needs.
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