MLA Report July 14

Howdy Chestermere! I hope you are enjoying the craziness that is Stampede Week. You may have decided to escape the festivities but for me it’s been Stampede all day every day! I know it may sound a little goofy but it is so much fun, and we get to meet so many of you while we are out and about. We hope to see, or to have seen you at some of the many events around Chestermere. The weather has been behaving so far, not that a little rain has ever slowed this cowgirl down! During the business of stampede breakfasts, lunches, and other meetings, we also attended the Trans Mountain Pipeline town hall discussion that was held at the Telus Convention Centre on July 7, 2016 which was interesting and concerning all at the same time. Many proponents of the Trans Mountain Pipeline project came to speak for the project, and a few who were concerned with the safety and the environmental impacts of this needed piece of national infrastructure. The premise of this town hall was to find out from the public whether or not the NEB had adequately consulted with first nations peoples and the general public regarding the pipeline. The original Trans Mountain Pipeline has operated safely since1953, and the terminal in Edmonton has been recently expanded. This pipeline carries both refined products and crude to terminals and refineries in B.C, as well as American refineries in Washington, California, and the Gulf Coast. Twinning the pre-existing pipeline will increase the capacity from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 barrels per day. This project would create approximately 16,000 construction jobs, and 37,000 direct and indirect jobs. Only 11% of the new build is a new right of way construction. The NEB is a world class arms length body that determines whether or not a project of this magnitude is in the best interest of our country. To our disappointment not only has the NEB been trashed as a sham, but both our federal and provincial governments politicized this process, created fear in Canadians, and called into question the safety of our transportation pipelines. Consultation is key, and if we as a nation did not do our due diligence in engaging with First Nations, then we will solve this by improving the process and following through. The energy sector is crying out to have these regulations solidified and want to build the best, safest and most efficient pipeline they can. They want to do right by all Canadians, and when the NEB, after an evidence based and apolitical process sensitive to both economic and environmental factors, determined this pipeline was in the national interest and approved it with 157 conditions, by all rights it should have been moved forward without further government interference.
The Shale oil and gas revolution in the USA has turned our only consumer into our competitor. Without access to tidewater we are forced to sell to our American friends at a discount of about $14/bbl. Without the discount the additional 590,000 bbl/day from the Trans Mountain expansion translates to over $8 million dollars a day, or over $3 BILLION dollars a year. This revenue would be shared by industry and our provincial and federal governments. That’s a lot of jobs, roads, schools and hospitals my friends. As always, we love to hear from you.