Dear Editor,
The question is ‘why, according to Mr. Trudeau, Energy East (EE) oil pipeline wasn’t in a national interest and could be cancelled, but Kinder Morgan (KM) oil pipeline is in a national interest.’
The answer is: There would be more votes for Liberals in Ontario and Quebec in the upcoming election then votes in British Columbia.
To the contrary to the above according to Mr. Frank McKenna “$12-billion Energy East project is truly in the national interest” according to the Globe and Mail, Nov. 6, 2014.
“Politicians and environmentalists of all stripes in Quebec are welcoming TransCanada’s decision to terminate the Energy East pipeline project, where opposition to the proposal was fervent and widespread. The pipeline would have carried 1.1 million barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta and Saskatchewan to New Brunswick (…..). The project was not popular in Quebec, where protesters notably crashed National Energy Board hearings into the proposal, leading to the cancellation of those hearings in August of last year,” reported CBC News, Montreal, Oct. 5, 2017.
Political analysists say Prime Minister Justine Trudeau wants Energy East gone because it’s too politcally risky in Quebec and Ontario, where he needs votes to get re-elected.
TransCanada is cancelling plans for its Energy East pipeline and Eastern Mainline projects.
Energy East would have carried about 1.1 million barrels of oil a day from Alberta and Saskatchewan to eastern Canadian refineries and a marine terminal in New Brunswick, on Canada’s Atlantic Coast. The Eastern Mainline project would add new gas pipeline and compression facilities to an existing system in Southern Ontario, where most of the country’s home and industrial gas consumers are located.
Meanwhile, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre celebrated the Energy East announcement, suggesting in a series of tweets that citizen groups and local politicians from the Montreal-area played a key role in putting a stop to the project, according to reports from the Calgary Herald, Oct. 5, 2017.
Ann Parker, Langley
