Letters

Court kills Trans Mountain approval citing Trudeau’s process

September 13, 2018   ·   0 Comments

by David Tilson

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion continues to be a disaster for the current Liberal government. Prime Minister Trudeau was recently in Edmonton to discuss the beleaguered project following the Federal Court of Appeal’s ruling last week that he failed to consult indigenous peoples and ultimately, overturned his approval of it.

While in Edmonton, he was given several opportunities to outline his plan to move the pipeline expansion forward and help Canadians return to work; however, he only provided empty rhetoric.

This also comes after he forced Liberal MPs on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources to shut down a study of the government’s handling of the Trans Mountain Expansion project. Canadians are understandably frustrated with this enormous Liberal boondoggle, which still hasn’t seen one new centimetre of pipeline built.

Canadians from coast to coast to coast remember when the current Liberal government announced they were nationalizing the existing Trans Mountain pipeline and that the government would use billions of taxpayer money to pay for it, which would allow construction to begin immediately.

Fast forward several months later and still nothing has been built and the file has become even more bogged down with problems. Thousands of Canadians have lost their jobs because of Justin Trudeau’s failure and it’s absolutely unacceptable that Canadian taxpayers are on the hook for a $4.5 billion pipeline that may never be built.

Worse still, Justin Trudeau’s failure to get the Trans Mountain Expansion built is now threatening other expansions in the oil and gas sector, adding to the total number of jobs at risk.

Prime Minister Trudeau needs to immediately outline a concrete plan to ensure that the Trans Mountain Expansion is actually completed. Workers deserve to know when construction will start and when the project will be completed.

We, the Conservative Official Opposition, are the only party fighting for the hardworking men and women in our resource sector, whose jobs and livelihoods depend on the projects that Prime Minister Trudeau has failed to champion. An Andrew Scheer government, in stark contrast, will fix the mess the Liberals have made and get Canadians back to work.

Justin Trudeau is personally responsible for this mess. When Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister, three major energy companies had pipeline projects – Northern Gateway, Energy East and Trans Mountain – they were prepared to build in Canada.

Now, thanks to Liberal policies and decisions, we have none. Conservatives would not have piled on new regulations and red tape, we would not have introduced a bill that effectively bans the future construction of pipelines, and we would not have introduced an oil tanker ban or implemented a job-killing carbon tax. We will repeal these Liberal policies when we form government in 2019 and restore investor confidence in Canadian energy.

It’s time for the empty rhetoric and dithering by Prime Minister Trudeau and his Liberal government to end and for them to finally take real action to ensure the Trans Mountain expansion is actually built.

Canadian jobs depend on it and Canadian taxpayers from across Canada are paying billions for it. Canadians deserve better from their government and its leadership.

         

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