Oh, poor baby, little B.C. Worried about your ouchie coochie wine business, are you?
Yeah, well, you can whine all you want. Cry us a river, like one that will fill the Fraser Canyon.
Alberta’s NDP Premier Rachel Notley has shown some serious spine in Alberta’s conflict with British Columbia over pipelines. Ironically, the new B.C. government is also NDP.
On Family Day, no less, the British Columbia government issued a formal challenge to Alberta’s ban on B.C. wine. The Canadian Press reported on Feb. 19, “B.C. said Monday it has notified Alberta that it is formally requesting consultations under the Canadian free trade agreement’s dispute settlement process.
“Trade Minister Bruce Ralston said Alberta’s actions threaten the livelihood of the families that have worked to build B.C.’s wine industry.
“‘These actions are inconsistent with Alberta's obligations under the (trade agreement,) and we will protect our reputation and the interests of British Columbians,’ he said in a statement.”
Wow, that was rich with irony. Perhaps as rich as the oilsands are with bitumen.
Go to hell, B.C. You’re worried about a few vineyards and wineries in a very rich valley? We’re worried about the bread and butter of Alberta, and a good chunk of Saskatchewan, too. You know, the industry that pays a very large portion of the bills? The one whose downfall in recent years has led to horrendous deficits in both Alberta and Saskatchewan?
If Northern Gateway had been built by now, as originally it should have been, it would have buoyed up the price of bitumen, and with it, heavy oil (which Saskatchewan produces), meaning billions more dollars coming to our industry, and through royalties and taxes, our provinces.
This is what Bronwyn Eyre, Saskatchewan’s new Minister of Energy and Resources, said to me in an email response in a story where I touched on pipeline politics. She said, “Saskatchewan’s oil and gas sector accounts for 15 per cent of provincial GDP, over 30,000 direct and indirect person years of employment, and accounts for between $3 billion-$5 billion annually of investment in the province. It is critical that Western Canada be able to diversify its crude oil export markets in order to get a better return on our products, as this will allow for greater job creation and revenues to government to provide public services and critical infrastructure, including the building of new schools and hospitals. In fact, the lack of pipeline connections to tidewater cost Saskatchewan approximately $56 million in royalties and Saskatchewan producers $800M in 2017. The Trans Mountain Expansion is critical and the project must go ahead now that it has been approved by the federal government.”
If it cost $800 million to Saskatchewan producers, imagine what it cost to Alberta producers, who would directly be exporting via the West Coast. We’re talking billions, with a very large, capital B.
Personally, I would like to see Premier Notley ratchet this fight up every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until B.C. folds. This has gone on for years, including under former Premier Christy Clark’s five principles (of extortion). It’s gone on long enough. The patience is over. Let’s hit ’em where it really hurts.
Like forestry.
Remember that bark beetle infestation that got all the headlines a decade ago? Maybe every single load of lumber, by train and by truck, crossing the continental divide eastward bound, should be inspected at the Alberta border. And perhaps Saskatchewan should also do the same, for good measure. We wouldn’t want to run any risks now, would we?
B.C. fruit trucks might need to be quarantined for a week before crossing both the Alberta and Saskatchewan borders. Can never be too safe, you know.
Since it’s apparently nigh onto impossible to get a liquified natural gas plant built on the coast (even if you plan on spending $36 billion in the province), B.C. relies in large part on the Alliance Pipeline to export is enormous natural gas reserves. (I worked on building that portion of the pipeline). If Alberta oil can’t go through B.C., maybe B.C. gas shouldn’t flow through Alberta. There are some valves near Gordondale, Alta, that would do the job. Some people in Chicago might take serious exception to that. Refer them to B.C. Premier John Horgan to explain the situation.
Maybe Western Canada should start using Seattle as its primary export port? Not just for the short term, but, like, forever? We might have to build a few rail connections, but that’s probably easier than a pipeline in B.C. right now. I know the marketing guy with the Port of Vancouver, Washington. He would love to increase their business by a factor of five, or 10.
Enough with the monkey business, British Columbia. In the words of Twisted Sister, we’re not going to take it anymore.
Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net.
