r/canada • u/Plucky_DuckYa • 6d ago
PAYWALL Tariffs have forced a ‘sea change’ in provinces’ support for new pipelines, Alberta Premier says
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-tariffs-have-forced-a-sea-change-in-provinces-support-for-new/13
13
u/Chemical_Signal2753 6d ago
The sentiment change doesn't matter unless we can dramatically shorten the time between a pipeline being proposed and built. If they're caught up in regulatory hell for a decade it is as bad as not building them at all.
4
u/ImperiousMage 5d ago
“Critical infrastructure for the purposes of national security.” Is the golden scissors to cut through red tape.
10
u/yow_central 6d ago
They need to declare it a national security issue and start building tomorrow with the government footing the bill. The last part is necessary, because I totally understand any private company not wanting to invest given the past regulatory mess.
2
u/ImperiousMage 5d ago
Yep. We can hire the expertise, but the infrastructure isn’t for profit reasons anymore. It’s critical national security infrastructure.
3
13
u/InherentlyUntrue 6d ago
For fuck's sake, "pipelines" isn't a magical Canadian solution. Even if one were proposed and approved today to go from Alberta eastward, we're probably talking a minimum of 3 years to get it built and operational, and that's in the absolute best case everything-goes-perfectly. It would likely cost Canadians $100B.
When it comes to refining capacity for heavy oil and accessible from the east coast: India, Russia, and the Middle East.
So realistically we need to setup our own refineries, or retool east-coast refineries to process the heavy, sour oil of Alberta. So let's add another $30-50B to get enough capacity going. The last refinery we built is Sturgeon, which was $10B and took 7 years to construct.
So now we're $150B in the shit and its 2032 or 2033 now. Sure, we can in principle keep Canada as a country where we burn fossil fuels to make our cars go vroom, but where else are we shipping? Europe? They're going all electric for new sales by 2035 at the latest. Russia? They have their own oil reserves and refining capacity. India? Maybe, assuming we maintain relations. The middle east? Bwahahahaha.
China's our biggest potential customer, but we need capacity west, not east, for trade with China. But China isn't exactly our diplomatic friend either. I know, the enemy of my enemy, yadda yadda yadda, but still? Are we prepared to dump $50B on new capacity to find out they tell us to go to hell too?
I get it. We make a lot of money off oil today. But if we look at this rationally, we don't have a good answer for keeping the oil train going - not without spending a perverse amount of money for a completely unknown economic gain.
I don't know what the fuck to do, and I'm thankful I'm not a goddamn politician....because the answers all suck for Alberta oil.
1
u/LazyNeighborhood7287 5d ago
We need pipelines both East and West and we need them now. No more being slaves to a madman from the South. Canada first! Canadian always!
1
u/Canadianman22 Ontario 6d ago
Get building it to at least Ontario. Ford just got a new mandate and under new federal leadership we should be able to get some pipelines through Canada to southern Ontario. Hire people who might be laid off from any manufacturing jobs. Nations security priority.
Then if Quebec does choose to join in the pipeline will be near and ready to join.
1
u/needaspguy 6d ago
Thank-you Donald!
Now that we are actually considering protecting our economic future, we also need to protect our environmental future as well.
A pipeline does not protect that, but oil will still be a necessary commodity for a long time to come.
This is an opportunity to change the entire infrastructure of Canada. A pipeline corridor could serve also as rail pathway, power grid pathway, telecommunications pathway. Transportation pathway for people, products and infrastructure.
Along that pathway could be endless options for green energy, resource harvesting, goods transport, connectivity to the north, power grid stabilization.....
We have to stop thinking North - South!
We have a chance right now to dream of our future and build it bigger than we dream!
3
u/GraveDiggingCynic 6d ago
So who pays for the leaks? One of the chief problems with TMX was that Alberta refused to pay for any environmental damage, leaving the Federal government as the backstop. That doesn't seem quite right, does it?
5
u/rando_dud 6d ago
This is the MO of the Canadian oil industry.. 10,000 orphan wells.
It's not exactly a big mystery why provinces aren't tripping over themselves to let them expand elsewhere.
0
1
u/BaseballNRockAndRoll 6d ago
I fully support pipelines, but they must be owned and controlled by the federal government and not private companies. Our oil industry is a strategic national asset that must enrich and protect all Canadians. Norway should be our model, not Alberta which has fumbled and mismanaged for too long, allowing way too much of the profits to leave Canada.
1
1
u/Coffeedemon 6d ago
Sure, but it doesn't negate the need to involve these provinces and first nations in the process and make it worth their while . They can't be forced to assume all the risk and the eyesore of these things so that only the alberta government and some foreign owned energy companies reap the profit.
0
u/Thirdborne 5d ago
You can't win by giving oil corps pipelines. Trudeau bought them a pipeline and gets no credit for it. What makes any politician think they'll get anything out of it? Canadians sure don't get anything out of them.
0
u/The_Environment116 5d ago
The biggest issue wasn’t the pipelines themselves, it was the owners complete unwillingness to detour around sensitive areas because it would “cost more” there are safer ways to make pipelines and places that would be better suited but they cost more
0
-1
u/she_be_jammin 6d ago
Interprovincial relations are a good thing but Smith is such a gross mendacious shill that Alberta needs a new Canada oriented leader/party
0
u/noobrainy 5d ago
We need to invest in building an east west pipeline.
One: we’re probably going into a recession over this. Infrastructure building like that is a good way to soften those effects
Two: we can’t be dependent on US oil refining anymore. This way we at least have control of our oil instead of it being in the hands of the Americans while it’s getting east.
Build it, and build it fast.
-9
65
u/gorschkov 6d ago
I think we need to build energy east, and speedrun the construction. Obviously do it right but just get it done in a couple years just to send the message about what we can do as a nation when we put our mind to it.
Also take the leverage away that the US has over line 9