Manitoba leaders criticize pipeline purchase

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This article was published 28/05/2018 (2306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Neither the provincial government nor Manitoba’s official Opposition is cheering the federal government’s decision to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline project from Kinder Morgan.

“It’s obviously a commitment the federal government has made out of desperation. We’re talking about billions of dollars in taxpayers’ money put at risk,” Premier Brian Pallister said Tuesday.

British Columbia and Alberta have been sparring over the project for months. Alberta wants to move its bitumen to tide water so it can be shipped, but B.C. opposes the project because it would mean more shipments in its coastal waterways, and it is concerned about spills and the harm to the environment.

Pallister’s government supports the construction of the pipeline, which he believes is in the best interest of Canadians.

“For us in Manitoba, I think we want to continue to lead in terms of fighting the battle to reduce (inter-provincial trade) barriers such as these, so that the Canadian family can work together. And in the case of British Columbia, it’s a beautiful province, but it’s not the only province,” he said.

“We need to remember that in a family, the best interests of the family are what should matter most. Not just one individual member of that family.”

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew called the federal government’s latest approach “a big mistake.”

“To throw $4.5 billion worth of taxpayer dollars after a pipeline that likely won’t get built doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It’s throwing good taxpayer dollars after this project with a ton of risk on it. And if the pipeline doesn’t get built, then it’s the people of Canada who are going to be left holding the bag,” he said.

Kinew said the Trudeau government has “misguided priorities.”

“They’re shipping $4.5 billion to a Texas multinational oil company. With that same amount of dollars, they could have provided a $300,000 lost income guarantee to every single person whose jobs might potentially be impacted by the pipeline,” he said.

B.C. Premier John Horgan said the federal government’s decision to take over the pipeline from Kinder Morgan doesn’t change his government’s position and it will continue to fight the case in court.

— With file from the Canadian Press

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

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