Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced the details of the agreement reached with Kinder Morgan at a news conference with Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, and CBC carried it live.
“We believe this is the best way to protect thousands of well-paying jobs and the safest and most effective way to get our resources to world markets,” Morneau said, according to CTV News.
“Make no mistake: this is an investment in Canada’s future.”
According to Morneau, Export Development Canada will finance the purchase, which includes the pipeline, pumping stations, and rights of way along the route between Edmonton and Vancouver, as well as the marine terminal in Burnaby, B.C., where oil is loaded onto tankers for export.
Morneau also pointed out the Liberal government had no intention of becoming a long-term owner of the pipeline. The government is in negotiations with interested investors, including Indigenous communities and pension funds. The Alberta government will provide funding for any unexpected costs that arise during construction.
“To investors considering Canada as a place to build big, important, transformative projects like the Trans Mountain expansion, we want you to know that you have a partner in Ottawa,” Morneau said. “One who not only respects the rule of law but who understands the challenges you are up against and will work with you to find solutions that work for everyone.”
Many Canadians may remember that during the 2009 financial crisis, Canada financed and managed shares in General Motors and Chrysler. Ottawa’s plan today is similar to what the government did 10 years ago, and the Trans Mountain project will become a new Crown corporation.
And even though Ottawa has the constitutional authority to build interprovincial projects like pipelines, Premier Hohn Horgan has gone to court hoping a judge will weigh in on whether the province’s concerns for the environment will out-trump the pipeline.
