The new president of the United States rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit was a concern addressed to the Foothills MP at an online Okotoks Chamber presentation on Jan. 19.
“Please lend your voice to the cancellation of the Keystone project,” said Margot Anderson, an Okotoks entrepreneur who is also in the oil industry, to MP John Barlow. “That is a scary thing for all of us.”
Barlow said he and his fellow Conservative MPs will fight for the pipeline, but he is not sure what impact that will have south of the border.
“I would like to say I am surprised with the news that came up on Monday night but I am not. We kind of had hints that was going to happen,” Barlow said. “You will see us going as hard as we possibly can when we go back.
“I honestly am not entirely sure what weight we will have.”
The pipeline would run from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska, and be capable of delivering 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
From Nebraska it would join pipelines to Texas and Illinois.
The project, which was first proposed by TransCanada Corporation in 2005, has been a presidential ping-pong game.
President George W. Bush authorized the pipeline in 2008, President Obama rejected the proposal over environmental concerns in 2015. Trump issued a permit to allow the project in March of 2017.
President Joe Biden rescinded Trump’s decision during his first day in office on Jan. 20.
The Alberta government made a $1.5 billion equity investment in March to accelerate the construction of the project.
Dick Nichols, who formerly worked in communications in the oil industry and is a business columnist for the Western Wheel, questioned the Alberta government’s investment to accelerate the construction of the Keystone pipeline.
“This whole issue of the Keystone pipeline was a bet on the provincial government that Trump was going to win the election,” Nichols said to Barlow. “Has there been any thought at the provincial or federal level of what was going to happen if Trump didn’t win the election and the Keystone pipeline was not only cancelled by Biden, but cancelled permanently by Biden?
“What are we going to do?”
Barlow said he has been in discussion with MLAs in his riding concerning the issue.
“On the federal side, I’m not going to bet my farm on Justin Trudeau going all out to fight for Keystone XL,” Barlow said. “This is going to come down to Alberta and Saskatchewan leading this charge and we will see what Premier (Jason) Kenney and Premier (Scott) Moe do.”
Kenney stated in a press conference on Jan. 20, Trudeau needs to take action now – adding the action taken by Canada’s strongest ally – the United States – “a gut punch for the Canadian and Alberta economies,” and an insult.
“I call upon the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government to ask the new administration to sit down and discuss this decision in the context of a way forward between Canada and the United States on environmental policy, climate policy, and energy security,” Kenney said. “Surely that is the least that our closest friend and ally owes Canada to respectfully discuss this and review the decision.”
He said if needed Canada should “impose meaningful trade and economic sanctions in response to defend our country’s vital economic interests.”
Kenney added the lack of action by the Trudeau government in 2015 to Obama rejecting the pipeline may have been one of the reasons for Biden’s – Obama’s vice-president – Jan. 20 decision to rescind.
As for the $1.5-billion equity investment, he said he has no regrets.
“Had we not done so the project would have died last year because of the perceived political risk associated with it,” Kenney said.
He said it was similar to the federal government purchasing the Trans Mountain pipeline for $7-billion and the Notley government committing $3.8 billion to move crude by rail.
Barlow also had concerns how much action the federal government will take.
He said the passing of Bill-69, C-48, cancelling Northern Gateway, cancelling Energy East was to “send a message to world leaders that Canada is doing everything we can to appease the anti-oil activists.
“These activists will never take no for an answer," he said. "Nothing we do will ever appease them and we have to stop doing this.”
