The more confusion builds over the end result for Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline, the more observers are challenged to make sense of the multi-ring circus.
In the latest spin of the merry-go-round:
*Canada’s Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, once an unwavering foe of oil sands development, offered what was viewed by many as a sensible way out of the British Columbia government’s predicament.
*The B.C. government asked the province’s highest court whether B.C. can regulate the flow of heavy crude within its boundaries.
*The Canadian government and Canada’s major banks have made separate approaches to First Nations exploring the chances of aboriginal communities taking an equity stake in the C$7.4 billion pipeline.
Joint panel proposed
In an open letter to B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman, McKenna proposed the establishment of a joint scientific panel to study the impact of diluted bitumen spills and the response measures, in addition to a federal offer of C$1.5 billion to bolster safety measures under the government’s Ocean Protection Plan.
Expressing frustration to reporters with efforts by the B.C. government to stall progress on the pipeline by any means, McKenna said in her letter that the panel “would build on our scientific investments and results, take stock of the work on the fate, behavior and effects of various oil products (work already well advanced under Natural Resources Canada) in different spills conditions and under extreme Canadian climates ...”
The joint federal-provincial-indigenous panel would include independent experts, she said.
Green Party concerns
B.C. Premier John Horgan has said the primary concerns of his coalition partner, the B.C. Green Party which keeps Horgan in power, is the threat of a diluted bitumen spill off the province’s coast.
Heyman said he is happy to work “cooperatively and collaboratively” with the federal government on an issue that is in the interest of all Canadians “to ensure we have the knowledge we need to defend our coast.”
Horgan said his government has asked the Court of Appeal whether the province has a right to impose restrictions on the flow of crude bitumen from Alberta to a tanker terminal in Vancouver.
He said the filing is a way to protect his province and its coastlines, streams and rivers from an oil spill that could endanger thousands of jobs.
Under draft legislation, B.C. would require companies to satisfy the government that it has sufficient capacity, including dedicated personnel and equipment, to respond within a specified time to a heavy crude spill.
Companies would also have to post security or have access to financial resources to clean up spills and compensate affected individuals, First Nations and governments.
May 31 deadline
But legal experts say there is no chance of the jurisdictional question being settled before Kinder Morgan’s May 31 deadline for receiving certainty that it can build the 590,000-barrel-per-day pipeline across B.C., mostly running parallel to an existing 300,000 bpd system.
Kinder Morgan said its drop-dead date is unchanged, noting that the proposed legislation “signals the province’s continued intention to frustrate the project.”
Those looking for deeper implications in the court filing suggested there is a concession the government could be heading for defeat, largely based on the absence of any insistence that the Trans Mountain expansion cannot or will not be built.
University of Calgary law professor Nigel Bankes told the Calgary Herald doubts that the court strategy will succeed, suggesting that the province’s case “undercuts its (basic) argument” by not demanding permits for existing shipments of diluted bitumen to Vancouver or Washington state refineries.
That case aside, six First Nations are before various courts testing Trans Mountain-related issues such as inadequate consultation and infringement of existing land and fishing rights.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley warns that if B.C. wins the case, Canada’s economy will “grind to a halt faster than you can say free trade.”
Overture to First Nations
The federal government and bank overture to First Nations has been welcomed by most of the 33 B.C. First Nations that have signed benefits agreements with Kinder Morgan covering environmental monitoring, contracting opportunities, job training and direct payments to communities, estimated to be worth C$400 million.
Stephen Buffalo, president of the Indian Resource Council, representing 130 aboriginal communities that hold oil and gas rights across Canada, said his group “wants and demands participation and equity ownership in (pipeline) projects.”
He said a meeting in May will discuss how to finance a stake in Trans Mountain by the 33 First Nations.
The Simpcw First Nation, whose territory covers a third of the pipeline route, said it is open to discussing an equity position.
But even deals on aboriginal ownership are no guarantee that a project would get built.
