QUESTION PERIOD — Natural Resources
December 11, 2023
Government leader, the Trudeau government failed to give Kinder Morgan the certainty they were seeking to build the Trans Mountain Expansion. In fact, the Prime Minister provided the opposite of certainty. Just two months after approving the project, he said of Alberta’s oil sands, “We need to phase them out. . . .”
When the Trudeau government bought Trans Mountain with $4.5 billion from taxpayers, they promised there would be no fiscal hit from this purchase. The current cost estimate for building Trans Mountain is now just under $31 billion. Leader, how much will Trans Mountain cost taxpayers by the time it’s in service?
The government’s decision many years ago to step in to ensure that the pipeline was built was a recognition of the complex situation that we face in this country — namely, with provinces and, indeed, citizens relying upon certain sectors of our economy, fossil fuel-producing sectors, as well as to ensure we can take steps to reduce the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels and the disasters that can occur, as we saw so tragically in Lac-Mégantic, when we transport fossil fuels and gas in less than ideal ways.
The government does not intend to be a long-term owner of the Trans Mountain pipeline, as you know. We have talked about this over the years. There are parties interested and the Government of Canada will continue to pursue that avenue.
I don’t think you answered my question as to how much taxpayers should expect to pay by the beginning of services.
The Trans Mountain Expansion Project is currently scheduled to be completed by the end of March, just a few months from now. Given that the regulator recently denied a variance on a section of the pipeline, will the Trudeau government meet its deadline or will there be yet another delay?
The government is committed to moving forward with it as best it can. This project, like all such projects, encounters various challenges along the way, whether it’s with stakeholders, regulatory issues and so on, and the government will continue to work with dispatch to reach the deadline that has been established.
