Alberta Minister of Municipal Affairs Shayne Anderson, says the federal government’s move to purchase the Trans Mountain Pipeline means people are heading back to work.
On Tuesday, May 29, the federal government announced it would be purchasing the pipeline as associated assets from Kinder-Morgan for $4.5 billion. Anderson is supportive of the move.
“There are people who are back to work today,” Anderson tells The Mail. “We think in the next couple of weeks there will be shovels back in the ground, but already there are people looking after logistics to get us rolling, so we are excited about that.”
“This is a major step forward for working people in Alberta and across Canada. There is still some work to be done but it is a great step.”
The leader of the United Conservative party Jason Kenney issued a statement following the announcement and calls the decision costly.
“While we continue to support the much-needed Trans Mountain project, it’s the catastrophic failure of the Alberta NDP and the Trudeau Liberals that caused Kinder-Morgan to pull out and forced today’s costly decision,” he states.
He adds it does not add any certainty that the project will be completed, or boost investor confidence.
“Everyone that was opposed is still opposed. The law and constitution still need to be enforced. And investor confidence in Canada will be further shaken,” said Kenney.
Anderson believes that the purchase helps clear some of the hurdles standing in the way of the project.
“Because the feds stepped in, there is more certainty in the investments and it is also basically a shield for them going forward from any other political interference by the BC government because it is a federal jurisdiction,” Anderson said.
He explains that Alberta is making a contribution to the project.
“Alberta is investing up to $2 billion to an indemnity pool, and that is to help ensure the project goes ahead,” he said. “How it works is the investments will be payable once the oil begins to flow through the pipeline. At that point Alberta’s investment will be converted to equity, ensuring our value for that investment,” he said.
Kenney is open to this suggestion, only if the government is open about the commitment.
“We are prepared, in principle, to support the Alberta government’s commitment of up to $2 billion in funds to indemnify the Trans Mountain operator from delays caused by political or legal uncertainty. However, we will ask the provincial government for more details about the nature of this commitment, and demand full transparency on this and any other costs borne by taxpayers,” said Kenney.