Politics and Pipelines

No one should ever doubt that in Canada, as in most countries that claim to be democratic, the primary goal of any federal government is (1) to get re-elected and (2) to ensure that the economy remains stable and grows. Without the former - nothing would ever get done and without the latter there would be no resources to do anything. To believe that governments are altruistic , in spite of the rhetoric of such fine speakers as soon-to-be-ex president Obama or those such as Justin Trudeau who appears to speak so clearly from his heart is at best naive and at worst dangerous. Leaders may mean almost everything they say - it is just that their interests and value systems are aligned with the two above stated goals. We only face disappointment if we expect them to make decision on any other basis.

Prime Minister Trudeau has just announced the approval of two new pipelines - both of which had gone through the complex if faulty approval process managed by the National Energy Board. The first approved was really a no brainer. Enbridge, with a number of very clear conditions, was given permission to replace it 1600+ kilometre pipeline that runs through Alberta and the southwest corner of Manitoba to the USA. It was an easy decision in that the present pipeline is fifty plus years old and is in poor shape. If it was running at capacity, the risk of a significant break was very high. The new pipeline will follow the same path as the present one and the environmental impact will be relatively minimal. I suspect that the public outcry will be minimal.

The cabinet today also approved the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline. On the surface this decision almost seems reasonable. There is already a pipeline there - the new proposed  pipeline is just mirroring the present one that travels from just south of Edmonton to Burnaby and the Pacific Ocean. However the pipeline travels though 130 First Nation communities . Only one third of those communities have agreed to the pipeline. It is not clear to me if the remaining communities are concerned about the consequences of another pipeline or if they are still negotiating for a more favourable deal. Lord knows - we have never dealt fairly with those communities and they are right to be cautious. The city of Burnaby also is against any expansion and may have enough political capital to make things difficult.

Blessedly the government did say no to the Northern Gateway pipeline - and to shutting down the number of tankers that sail the inside passage.

Clearly the Liberal government believes that the two pipelines approved will both engender political support in the areas that they need it (Alberta) while not losing too many votes in BC, and create some economic  growth. I suspect they are right. Recognizing that any time one transports oil, there is a risk of environmental damage and that some parts of Canada need a boost to the economy, the Liberals may have made the best decisions possible.

Of course the better decision would have been to shut down the oil sands, stop shipping the crude across Canada in rail cars and to not build any pipelines at all. But for that to have happened, the rest of Canada (not just Alberta) would have  to tighten our belts a few notches - do with less services and pay more taxes. If we truly want to live in a carbon neutral country that does not use oil to burn for fuel or to sell to keep out economy stable, then we will need to find a way to generate income at a national level; we will also need to find an alternative way of moving both our goods and ourselves across vast distances.  I do not think there is an easy or a quick fix to either of those realities.

 In the upcoming weeks, especially because of the example of anti pipeline protests at  Standing Rock in the US, there is going to be the temptation to create a similar protest movement in BC. I think we need to be careful. The First Nations communities need to take as much times as they need in their negotiations with Kinder Morgan before they are forced into a position of protest. Non-indigenous peoples running off to protest camps "to support their Native brothers and sisters"  may be premature and problematic.  We should not be telling those communities how to act.

Before we protest - let us make sure that we are doing everything we can to reduce our community's dependency on oil. Let us make sure that before we throw out the bath water that the baby is safely somewhere  else. And that means having a reasonable solution to at least most of the problems. We need to stop looking to others to solve our problems. If you don't like the oil sands - stop using a car (bus, train, airplane), stop heating your house with carbon based products and stop using plastics.