Pipelines: Trudeau wants to bring people together

TransCanada (TSX:TRP) plans to build a pipeline from Alberta’s oilsands, through Montreal, ending in New Brunswick, in order to open new markets.

It was a meeting planned before a spat erupted between the provinces over the pipeline project.

In a news conference in Davos last Friday, Trudeau countered concerns from Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre and his regional colleagues that the Energy East pipeline posed an unacceptable environmental risk.

Infrastructure projects and the Energy East pipeline were on the agenda as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mayor Denis Coderre met Tuesday morning in Montreal. The new process will consider the emissions impact of the project, including upstream emissions, Trudeau said.

Coderre said the project is worth about $2 million a year in economic benefits to the Montreal area, while the cleanup of a major oil spill could cost between $1 billion and $10 billion.

That triggered a war of words with certain western Canadian politicians, including Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Brian Jean, head of the Opposition Wildrose party in Alberta. “It’s to be responsible and to have a balanced approach between economic development and sustainable development”.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged on Tuesday to require that environmental reviews of proposed oil pipelines consider greenhouse gas effects, and said it was not his role to be a cheerleader for such projects.

“We need to understand that, you know, there is no plan B to the planet.”

“Just because we’re asking questions and asking people to do their homework doesn’t mean we’re lacking respect for others”, Coderre said.

Montreal can not make the final decision on Energy East, but Trudeau said he won’t force cities to comply.

Bill Bennett says the meaning behind his comment was not that Trudeau might come to regret remarks he made in a speech, but that the media may have misquoted the prime minister.

“The federal government’s role is to put in place a process through which TransCanada or any other company might proceed to demonstrate that a project is in the public interest and get Canadians’ approval”.