WELCOME TO GULL LAKE
The Government of Canada has reached an agreement with Kinder Morgan to buy the Trans Mountain Expansion Project and related pipeline and terminal assets for US$3.5 billion (C$4.5 billion), as the federal government stepped in to save the project after British Columbia’s fierce opposition to the project was threatening to derail it.
Source: Canada To Buy Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project
The Attorney General of Saskatchewan will be applying to participate in the reference case currently before British Columbia’s Court of Appeal concerning the constitutionality of British Columbia’s proposed amendments to its Environmental Management Act.
“We are dismayed that a pipeline that will benefit many people across Canada continues to be held up by unreasonable delays,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Don Morgan said. “As we argued in the previous case involving the city of Burnaby, it is Saskatchewan’s position that these pipelines are in the national interest and fall under federal, not provincial jurisdiction.”
On December 7, 2017, the National Energy Board ruled that the Trans Mountain pipeline is not required to comply with the two bylaws cited by the City of Burnaby as its reason for delaying the issuing of permits to Trans Mountain. In its decision, the National Energy Board agreed with Saskatchewan that it would be contrary to a basic principle of federalism if one province, or a single municipality of one province, held the power to impede the construction of an interprovincial pipeline.
“Saskatchewan remains dedicated to standing up for the hard-working people in our natural resources and energy sectors,” Morgan said. “We know that these pipelines are necessary for our energy companies to get their products to tidewater to ensure a competitive price, and that the increased capacity this pipeline represents stands to benefit all Canadians.”
Source: Saskatchewan Intervenes In Pipeline Reference Case Before B.C. Court Of Appeal
Canada’s oil patch booked three consecutive years of hefty losses after the oil prices crash in 2014. This year, the industry is set to post a very slim gross profit—the first profit in four years. Despite the expectation that the tide is finally turning for Canada’s oil producers, significant challenges remain, with constrained pipeline capacity and limited capability to expand export markets the biggest of them all, the Conference Board of Canada said in a report last week.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe wants to see the federal government restrict infrastructure funding to British Columbia, in the hope it will allow construction on Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline to continue. Those comments came Monday, shortly after the Alberta government introduced a law that will give its energy minister power to stop the flow of oil, gasoline and natural gas from going west to B.C. Moe says Saskatchewan will introduce a similar law to ensure B.C. doesn’t access markets here for those products.
Source: Sask. wants feds to restrict funding, and set to halt energy products to B.C.