Energy assessment bill conflicts with purchase of pipeline, Alberta premier says

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says it makes no sense forOttawa to have spent $4.5 billion to buy the Trans Mountain pipelinewhile it pushes legislation she says will deter investors fromfuture energy projects.

Notley was in Ottawa Thursday giving the Senate her take on BillC-69, the Impact Assessment Act, which overhauls the way energyprojects are assessed for their effects on the environment and theircontributions to the social and economic well-being of the country.

When Environment Minister Catherine McKenna introduced thelegislation a year ago, she said it was designed to attract newinvestment by giving the industry certainty about the criteria bywhich their proposed projects would be assessed and set timelinesfor the reviews.

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Notley says the bill does the opposite.

"I will give [the Liberal government]credit for stepping in tobuy Trans Mountain, but I also think there is a high level of
investor uncertainty that exists right now in the way in which it'swritten," she said. "We cannot allow that uncertainty to continue.You can't build trust by saying, 'Trust us.' You build trust byproviding clarity."

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The bill already had more than 130 amendments when it was debatedin the House of Commons and the House environment committee. TimMcMillan, president of the Canadian Association of PetroleumProducers, told the committee last week the changes made in theHouse of Commons made the bill more complicated and that it nowprovides less clarity than before.

McMillansaid the long, drawn-out legal challenges that havedelayed the Trans Mountain pipeline will be the norm if the billpasses as is. In particular, there is too much discretion given tocabinet to interfere in a project's approval, he said.

McKenna's spokeswoman Sabrina Kim said in a statement Thursdaythe government is open to considering additional amendments. Sheblames the environmental assessment policies of the formerConservatives for the legal challenges delaying energy projects, andsaid the Liberals are keen to ensure the system protects theenvironment while still getting Canadian resources to market.

Among the amendmentsNotleywants to see are a hard two-yeardeadline for the entire assessment and review process. She noted theTrans Mountain expansion, a proposal to triple an existingpipeline's capacity between Edmonton andBurnaby, B.C., was firstbrought forward in 2013 and in 2019 it is still in the middle oflegal fights.

Ottawa bought the pipeline last August after Kinder Morgan Canadainvestors got skittish in the midst of several legal challenges. Oneof those was successful last summer, with the Federal Court ofAppeal tearing up cabinet approval for the project on the grounds ofinsufficient environmental and Indigenous consultations.

The National Energy Board last week recommended the project beapproved a second time after completing a new round of environmentalreviews. The federal cabinet is waiting for the completion of moreIndigenous consultations before deciding if it will follow through.

Notleyalso wants most new Alberta energy projects, includingin-situoilsandsdevelopments and petrochemical refineries, exemptedfrom the bill because of existing provincial review processes andher government's climate-change policies.

She said the Alberta government has attracted $12 billion ininvestments for petrochemical and upgrading facilities. "We don'twant to see that caught up in duplicative regimes that scare awayinvestors we've worked so hard to attract," she said.

National unity issue

She said the main thing the federal legislation should affect isinterprovincialpipelines.

Notleytold the senators Alberta's struggle to get its oil tomarket has become an issue for national unity, noting Alberta wasseeing such a collapse in its oil prices in the fall she forced oilcompanies to cut production.

"Over in the Maritimes they are importing Saudi oil. Here inOntario you are importing American oil, both at world prices, andmeanwhile in Alberta we are cutting production," she said. "I told [the Senate] very clearly this is not how you build a country."

The proposed Energy East pipeline that would have carried Albertacrude to eastern Canadian refineries was abandoned in 2017 withTransCanadaciting market changes and uncertainty created by federalgovernment policies.

Notleysaid Thursday ifC-69passes it will certainly discourageanyone from trying to get that pipeline back underway.