Oil and Gas Sector-Politics and Image – Page 21

Canada is turning into a mob city while Trudeau remains silent – by John Ivison (National Post – February 13, 2020)

February 13, 2020

Somebody in Ottawa should be pointing out that along with the right to protest there are certain responsibilities to allow other people to go about their business

Canada is slowly turning from democracy to mobocracy, as the rule of law is tested from coast to coast.

From blocked intersections in downtown Toronto, to journalists and legislators being barred entry to the B.C. legislature; from an obstructed CN line affecting rail traffic out of the port of Prince Rupert, to the barricades impeding Via Rail’s service between Toronto and Montreal, Canada is slowly being choked into submission.

The protests are in solidarity with the opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern B.C. by hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation. But a considerable number of “outsiders” are using the dispute as an excuse for mischief.

Rail blockades could turn into a full-blown secession crisis — and Trudeau’s government is to blame – by Diane Francis (Financial Post – Feburary 13, 2020)

February 13, 2020

https://business.financialpost.com/

The illegal road and rail blockades perpetrated by Indigenous radicals across the country are not about pipelines or fossil fuels. It’s an existential threat to Canada and its sovereignty — and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is to blame.

Five years of pandering and subsidizing 632 First Nations leaders has led to this catastrophe, which is being spearheaded by five unelected hereditary chiefs in British Columbia who claim their nation — the Wet’suwet’en — is exempt from Canadian laws and regulations.

They claim sovereignty over a 22,000-square-kilometre swath of land, an area the size of Israel, and have successfully invoked nationwide solidarity protests that have crippled portions of the country’s rail system.

The question of authority shouldn’t divide First Nations – by Ellis Ross (Vancouver Sun – January 26, 2020)

February 12, 2020

https://vancouversun.com/

Ellis Ross is the B.C. Liberal MLA for Skeena and was chief councillor for the Haisla First Nation from 2013 to 2017.

The heated debate over who holds authority over the territory of First Nations — be it hereditary chiefs or elected band leaders — may serve the interests of those seeking to disrupt construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, but it does absolutely nothing for the well-being of an average Aboriginal living on reserve.

As an elected councillor for the Haisla First Nation, and later chief councillor, I grew up experiencing dismal employment prospects, children being raised in poverty, tragic suicides, and horrific rates of Aboriginal youth ending up in the prison system.

We’ve always had to cope with outsiders and so-called experts telling us who best represents First Nations, or what we should do within our own territory. Yet none of these people have ever lived on reserve or spent any significant time with the people who actually live there.

The First World problem of pipeline building – by Kelly McParland (National Post – February 11, 2020)

February 11, 2020

https://nationalpost.com/

It is possible, it appears, to build an oil pipeline in Canada.

Though not a 100 per cent, absolute dead certainty — Lord knows what schemes opponents may still have hidden away — this would appear to be the outcome of two recent court cases, one of which ruled that British Columbia can’t stop a pipeline from Alberta just because it makes some of them feel good, the second that Indigenous Canadians do not have an absolute veto over legislation affecting them, despite whatever impression the prime minister may have given, and no matter what the United Nations may think of the situation.

It is a big moment in Canadian history. Other countries have civil wars, coups d’etat, plagues of locusts and demented presidents. In Canada we devote vast resources to arguing over whether one pipelinethat goes to an ocean port can be joined by another pipeline going to the ocean port. Of all First World countries, Canada must have the most spare time to fight over First World problems.

The Liberals have reached a crossroad with Alberta. What they do next could define them – by John Ivison (National Post – February 11, 2020)

February 11, 2020

https://nationalpost.com/

The decision over whether to approve Teck Resources’ Frontier oilsands mine in Alberta has brought the federal Liberals to a crossroads in their pursuit of economic growth and a cleaner environment. One path leads to more jobs but a despoiled environment; the other to lower greenhouse gas emissions but rising Western alienation and lower tax receipts.

As director Woody Allen noted in his film Side Effects, when forced to choose between utter hopelessness and total extinction: “Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” It is a defining moment in the life of this government.

The Liberals would prefer to deflect the blame elsewhere – in this case, dumping the inevitable tailings deposits over the head of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.

The Liberals are pouring kerosene on the flames of Western separatism – by Rex Murphy (National Post – Feburary 8, 2020)

February 10, 2020

https://nationalpost.com/

Denying Teck’s Frontier mine project would be unspeakably stupid. And dangerous. And talk of an ‘aid package’ for Alberta is simply outrageous

“If they say no to this project, then they are signalling … that he (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) wants to phase out the oilsands,” Kenney said.

It was not a sentence I was prepared to read. Not even in the central Canadian press. The sentence was this: Canada is preparing an aid package for Alberta. Let me detail how wrong this is, and outrageous.

Where did this “Canada” come from? The Liberal government is not Canada. And everyone in Canada except, perhaps, the Liberal government, knows this.

Teck Frontier oilsands project pits Trudeau’s climate credibility against concerns for Alberta’s economy – by Alex Ballingall (Toronto Star – February 8, 2020)

February 10, 2020

https://www.thestar.com/

OTTAWA—Like most everyone with a stake in the quagmire of Canadian climate politics, Colleen Thorpe does not know if the Liberal government will approve the Teck Frontier oilsands project. But she sure is worried it will.

The executive director of Équiterre was among a host of Quebec environmentalists who met Monday with key cabinet ministers to air their thoughts about the massive — and politically contentious — proposed development in northeastern Alberta. Naturally, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson was there.

But so was Steven Guilbeault, the rookie politician installed as heritage minister after he was elected in Montreal last fall. In his prior life, Guilbeault was one of Quebec’s most prominent green activists, a vocal campaigner in the fight against climate change, who co-founded Thorpe’s organization and worked there until less than two years ago.

Teck joins the push toward net-zero emissions, but it’s unclear how it will get there – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – February 6, 2020)

February 6, 2020

https://business.financialpost.com/

Pledge comes as it proposes an oilsands project that, if approved, would add an estimated four million tonnes of carbon per year to the atmosphere

Teck Resources Ltd. has joined a growing throng of companies that have formally pledged to cut their carbon emissions to net-zero as it awaits a federal decision on whether it can build a massive new project in the Alberta oilsands.

For Vancouver-based Teck, the promise made earlier this week to be carbon neutral — by reducing, eliminating and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions — came with a strong caveat: it’s giving itself until 2050, or 30 years, to reach net-zero carbon emissions. The date is so far out it simultaneously raises questions about the impact and makes the pledge look realistic.

“These announcements are quite positive because we know that’s where we need to go,” said Nikki Way, a senior analyst at the Pembina Institute, a Calgary-based clean energy think tank. “The remaining step is how do we get there?”

Teck’s Frontier oilsands mine has been taken political hostage over Alberta’s challenge of the carbon tax – by Colleen Collins and Patrick Smith (Financial Post – February 6, 2020)

February 6, 2020

https://business.financialpost.com/

Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson recently linked the approval of Teck Resources’ Frontier oilsands mine to Alberta’s withdrawal of its court challenge of the federal carbon tax — essentially holding the project hostage to political negotiation.

The federal cabinet probably should not have power of approval over a project that is wholly within Alberta and subject to Alberta’s climate policy, which includes both limits on oilsands emissions and a carbon price for large emitters.

But, given that it is, approval should be granted or not on its merits as assessed by the expert regulatory review, not as part of a strategy to strong-arm a province to fall in line with federal policy demands in an area of shared jurisdiction.

EDITORIAL: The Trans Mountain decision just delivered a gusher of legal clarity (Globe and Mail – February 5, 2020)

February 5, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

In August, 2018, after the Federal Court of Appeal quashed Ottawa’s approval of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion, there was a national hue and cry over what seemed like constant setbacks for industrial projects. Some people were saying it had become impossible to get anything built in this country.

That view turns out to have been exaggerated. The 2018 ruling was not a sweeping condemnation of Trans Mountain. Instead, the court largely signed off on the federal government’s approval of the project, except for two specific failings: a failure to weigh the negative impact of oil tankers on marine life, and inadequate Indigenous consultations.

The court’s 2018 decision was, essentially, a paint-by-numbers guide to finishing those two steps, doing so in a reasonable time, and getting the project going.

In a major victory for Trans Mountain, Federal Court dismisses Indigenous appeal of project’s approval – by John Paul Tasker (CBC News Politics – February 3, 2020)

February 4, 2020

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/

The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Indigenous groups challenging the federal government’s approval of the Trans Mountain expansion project — clearing yet another major legal hurdle for the long-delayed $7.4 billion project, which will carry nearly a million barrels of Alberta oil per day to the B.C. coast.

In a unanimous 3-0 decision, the court ruled that Ottawa carried out “reasonable” and “meaningful” consultations with Indigenous peoples affected by the project’s construction before approving the pipeline for a second time.

“This was anything but rubber-stamping exercise. The end result was not a ratification of the earlier approval, but an approval with amended conditions flowing directly from renewed consultation,” the court said. “All very much consistent with the concepts of reconciliation and the honour of the Crown.”

Oil prices drop as spreading coronavirus outbreak reduces demand for fuel – by Emma Graney (Globe and Mail – February 4, 2020)

February 4, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Crude oil prices fell to their lowest point in more than a year amid growing concerns that the coronavirus outbreak is weighing on the global economy and quickly sapping demand for fuel.

West Texas intermediate oil slumped to US$49.91 a barrel early Monday, the first drop below US$50 since January, 2019, and down sharply from levels above US$60 early this year. Prices for Brent crude, the international benchmark, have also fallen.

Demand for crude oil has quickly dropped as refineries in China curtail production to reflect lower requirements for fuel in the country. A broad shutdown of economic activity and travel in areas affected by the coronavirus outbreak means tens of millions of citizens are staying in their homes in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.

Teck mine approval could require Alberta to hit net-zero emissions by 2050 – by Vassy Kapelos (CBC News Politics – February 2, 2020)

February 3, 2020

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/

The federal cabinet is considering approving the Teck Frontier oilsands mine, but with a condition — that Alberta legislate an emissions cap requiring the province to hit net-zero emissions by 2050 — two sources close to the prime minister tell CBC News.

The Liberal cabinet must make a decision on the massive new oilsands project by the end of February, while facing pressure from environmentalists on one side and the Alberta government on the other.

The sources, who spoke on condition they not be named, told CBC News the Teck decision is more difficult than the government’s decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, but cabinet is leaning toward a plan outlined by former natural resources minister Amarjeet Sohi in the Edmonton Journal last week.

CANADA: UN, Media Accused of Ignoring Indigenous Support for Pipelines – by Jason Unrau (The Epoche Times – January 29, 2020)

January 31, 2020

https://www.theepochtimes.com/

A U.N. committee’s recent call on the federal government to halt three major resource development projects in British Columbia continues to spark outrage among Indigenous leaders who are in favour of the projects.

The First Nations LNG Alliance has now issued an open letter to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), saying its recommendations should “immediately be withdrawn” and an apology given to the 20 nations that support the Coastal GasLink pipeline, one of the three projects.

“The committee should have been aware that that 20 First Nations participated extensively during five years of consultation on the pipeline, and have successfully negotiated agreements with Coastal GasLink,” the letter stated, while accusing CERD of failing to do its research before taking a position.

Alberta to overhaul ‘flawed’ scheme that regulates old oil and gas infrastructure – by Geoffrey Morgan (Financial Post – January 31, 2020)

January 31, 2020

https://business.financialpost.com/

CALGARY – The Alberta energy regulator will soon unveil sweeping changes to how it regulates its old oil and gas infrastructure, including a complete overhaul of an environmental liability rating scheme it now considers a “flawed system.”

In December, the AER stopped its longstanding practice of publishing liability management ratios (LMRs) for every oil and gas company operating in the province, which were used to measure the value of a company’s assets against its total deemed liabilities. The AER then limited companies with a low LMR score from buying assets that would add to their liabilities.

A full review of how the government and regulators handle oil and gas clean-up rules is years, if not decades, overdue, Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage said in an interview with the Financial Post. She confirmed the province would be rolling out new policies by the end of the first quarter of 2020.