Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said the current economic face-off with U.S. President Donald Trump is forcing Canada to “build a new economic and security relationship not only with the U.S., but with our allies around the world.”
“The previous government made its decision based on the situation at the time. What we’ve been elected to do is respond to the realities today, taking into account what Canadians expect of us,” Hodgson said.
“And I would say the realities today are quite different than they were two or three years ago.”
As I’ve said countless times, it isn’t trump who is our problem. It is the lengthy, complex and qualitive regulatory framework that limits investment in Canada.
Canadian taxpayers shouldn’t have to rescue projects. It should ensure that investors wants to invest in Canada. All industries, not just their preferred pet ‘major’ projects.
You guys just don’t understand. The single moral imperative for Canada is that it must accommodate every whim of the oil & gas sector, whose interests are the only ones that truly matter.
I suggest Uzi look up what LNG Canada is doing. An industrial joint venture with several major energy companies. They seem to think that investment in Canada is a good idea. Maybe they might know things that Uzi does not.
Let me tell you, there will be HELL TO PAY in certain quarters if Carney fails to announce a full transition to a Bitumen driven Canadian economy, as well as fealty to Trump. Mark my words.
You can have more than one interest at a time. It takes on average 15 years for a mining project to get approvals. I use oil and gas because it is the single highest export that Canada has.
I presume you are offering that factoid about mining approvals as an example of what is wrong with Canada’s regulatory structure.
But are Canada’s extraction industries actually overregulated? Extraction industries fight tooth and nail to be allowed to pollute, to destroy ecosystems, and to leave toxic messes behind themselves. The regulations they face only exist because they refuse to clean up after themselves of their own accord, and even when heavily regulated still manage to foist cleanup costs onto the public on a regular basis. Your own province faces tens of billions in liabilities to clean up end-of-life oil wells, with a provincial government that lets the industry slow-walk remediation and even escape it entirely while down-playing the extent of the problem.
Mines are horrifically ecologically damaging, and it should be an onerous task to get one approved. Ideally the process would be difficult but brief, but that’s not really how the world works. It’s entirely reasonable to demand of a mining company that they should have ecological damage and remediation plans for the entire life of the mine in place prior to putting the first shovel in the ground, because historically any less results in disasters like the Faro Mine remediation project funded entirely by taxpayers. Note this is but one of many, many examples, just happened to be near the top of the google results.
Delivering a complete mitgation and remediation plan, and the assurances that it will be followed, is never going to be quick and easy, but history shows that it’s necessary.
But sure, let’s just give extraction industries anything they want, because they turn a tidy profit so long as they aren’t held responsible for the mess they make. It’s always better for investors if they can privatize the profits and then socialize the ensuing liabilities. If you get in on the ground floor and don’t give a fuck about the rest of the country, it’s great to be minimally regulated!
The 100,000 sq.ft., $30 million modular facility opened in June and was supported by a $3-million investment through Natural Resources Canada’s Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program.
Indeed, or the failure of the tailings pond dam at Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley mine in B.C.’s Interior which released 25 billion litres (yes, that’s billions, with a ‘B’) of toxic sludge into Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake. It has cost taxpayers $40 million so far in remediation, and actually not much improvement has been seen.
But by all means, let’s fast track more mines like this. After all, what could happen right? The companies can always be counted on to do the right thing, and would never, NEVER put profits ahead of environmental concerns.
Keep saying that while benefitting from the project being completed.
Yes there is an alternative history being promoted outside of reality.
Reality: The history where the company in question spent billions and then, after the goal posts were moved by governments, decided that it made more sense to cut and run.
Realizing that they had screwed the golden goose, the government stepped in. But never fixed, or admitted to causing, the issue that caused the mess.
Kinder Morgan steps back
Nothing to do with business cases. This is like Eby saying there is no business case for moving oil through Prince Rupert. He’s right, there’s a law preventing tankers in that location, so yeah, there is no business case.
What do you think Canada should be doing if it isn’t exploiting its resources? Making things? From what?
The regulations they face only exist because they refuse to clean up after themselves of their own accord…
How does a 15 year approval process fix that? Could a 2 year approval process do the same thing requiring some form of ‘insurance’ that guarantees a cleanup and keeping it clean during production? Prefixed penalties? Dunno, should be lots of ways to facilitate things if Canada was shooting for higher than incompetence or even mediocracy.
Or, should I assume that you actually don’t want any projects and investor money should go elsewhere, where there are rational and reasonable approval processes, and we’ll live off of pixie dust and moonbeams?
I’m actually glad it was completed, just to let you know.
In the interests of a more complete explanation for those who don’t know about the Trans-mountain pipeline expansion project:
The federal government approved Kinder Morgan’s pipeline project to twin the pipeline carrying bitumen from Alberta to the west coast. Yes, that horrible LIBERAL federal government.
Lots of people were opposed to this, including environmental groups, and folks in Burnaby who did not like the thought of more diluted bitumen moving through their city, and some who did not like the thought of more tankers moving through the waters of BC.
Several first nations groups were bitterly opposed, and took court action.
The provincial government of BC was opposed, as they were getting not much out of the deal to transport Alberta’s oil, other than assuming the potential environmental damage.
So… Then the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the federal government’s approvals for the Trans Mountain expansion project, citing inadequate consultation with Indigenous groups and flaws in the National Energy Board’s assessment.
Kinder Morgan (shareholders) then got queasy, and voted to sell the project to the Federal government for $4.5 billion of taxpayer money. The private company made out OK. The (Liberal!) federal government felt that the project was in the national interest, and therefore pushed it forward. PM Trudeau had made commitments to support Alberta’s energy industry, and basically told British Columbia and the environmentalists to pound sand.
And for that… Alberta folks like Uzi Hate, Hate, HATE Trudeau with the passion of a thousand burning suns. I know, it makes little sense. And now they Hate, HATE PM Carney for presumably the same reasons.
You do realize that the permits were quashed because the courts said the Crown had failed in its duty to consult, not Kinder Morgan?
The crown has the duty to consult with indigenous peoples when they approve projects that may impact them. That it is not the duty of the company, who had followed the NEB process and had deals with 40+ indigenous groups, to do this consultation. In other words, the Crown (government) didn’t follow its own rules and left Kinder Morgan out to dry.
That was when the company decided, based on the courts decision, and, imho, waiting on a drama teacher at the helm of the government to fix things, it cut bait. Sold the project for $4B+ and, let said drama teacher build a project for 5x the amount it would normally have cost. Too bad Canada didn’t elect someone who taught project management.