Northern Gateway pipeline: one day until federal decision is due

The Canadian federal government is closing in on a decision day for the Northern Gateway Pipeline project.

Pipeline opponents

Opponents of the pipeline that would link oilsands in Alberta with a tanker port near Kitmat say they’re ready in case the Harper Government gives the project the go-ahead tomorrow (Tuesday).

Resigned, perhaps, that federal government approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline is inevitable, opponents of the project are formulating a plan to make sure British Columbia's politicians remain opposed to the project.

For months now, members of the Dogwood Initiative have been preparing for a provincial referendum akin to the vote that forced the Liberal government to repeal the harmonised sales tax in British Columbia.

Should Ottawa give the pipeline the go-ahead by this Tuesday's deadline and the province issues the necessary permits and authorisations, spokesman Kai Nagata said his group will be ready.

Pipeline supporters

A group of 40 prominent Canadian business and political leaders have signed an open letter urging the federal cabinet to approve the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline project.

The B.C. government officially declared its opposition to Northern Gateway and told the federal panel reviewing the project that it shouldn't go ahead as planned.

When Premier Christy Clark pressed for a greater share of government revenues for the project she said repeatedly that while the final decision is in the federal purview, there are about 60 permits that the province will have to issue for construction to begin.

The pipeline project

Enbridge's Northern Gateway Project would bring diluted bitumen from Alberta to the deepwater port in Kitimat, B.C., where it would be loaded on supertankers and shipped to Asia.

"The province could hold construction in limbo indefinitely," Nagata said.

Under provincial legislation, for Cdn$ 50 any registered voter can apply to Elections BC for a petition on their own proposed legislation. If approved, they have 90 days to collect the signatures of 10% of the registered voters in each of the province's 85 ridings. The petitions are non-binding.

If the chief electoral officer verifies that threshold has been met, a copy of the petition and draft bill are sent to a legislative committee.

The Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives can either table a report recommending introduction of the draft bill or put it to a public vote. If more than half of registered voters cast ballots in support, the government must introduce the bill in the legislature.

But even that is no guarantee of success. The bill proceeds as any other legislation, with MLAs free to vote as they wish.

Petitions have poor track record

Since 1995, nine initiative applications have been approved but only one petition gathered the required number of signatures to pass. That campaign resulted in a province-wide vote in favour of repealing the harmonised sales tax.

Word from Ottowa

Ottawa appears close to approving Enbridge’s Cdn$ 7.9 billion Northern Gateway pipeline project.

The Prime Minister and several of his key cabinet ministers have broadly hinted as much in recent days, so the decision itself appears to be little more than a formality, although some speculate it may yet be delayed.

“Getting Northern Gateway approved and getting it built are two different things,” says Leo de Bever, CEO of Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo), the province’s Cdn$ 75 billion pension fund manager.

“It’s going to take a long time and there’s going to be a lot of negotiation to get First Nations’ co-operation. My guess is 2020 is probably optimistic” as a projected startup date for the pipeline.

In fact, many observers predict that three other proposed oil export pipelines, including TransCanada’s Energy East project that would transport bitumen to refineries in Quebec and New Brunswick; TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the US Gulf Coast; and the expansion of Kinder Morgan’s existing Trans Mountain pipeline from the Edmonton area to Burnaby, are likely to come onstream well before Northern Gateway.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/16062014/northern_gateway_pipeline_one_day_until_federal_decision_is_due/