After years of devastation and broken promises of market access by other governments, our United Conservative government here in Alberta has thrown a long overdue lifeline to our energy industry to secure immediate construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which commenced at the Canadian-American border in the early depths of the morning on April 1.
We did so by committing to a $1.1 billion direct investment in the project, which will add an additional capacity of 830,000 barrels per day to our exports, create 7,000 Albertan jobs, and yield an estimated return of $30 billion over the next twenty years. After seeing both the Northern Gateway and the Energy East pipelines cancelled, a tanker ban imposed on Canada’s west coast, a massive differential created by our lack of tidewater access, and a well funded foreign campaign to land-lock our energy, the construction of this pipeline is exactly what our industry needed. After a decade long delay by various governments both Canadian and American, it was time that someone ensured this Keystone XL pipeline got built in case it’s the last major pipeline we see, and that is where our government stepped in.
As economies all over the country and world reel from the downturn with business closures and personnel layoffs, our government has instead given hope to 7,000 hardworking Albertan families. The 7,000 jobs that will be created from the Keystone XL construction will ensure that 7,000 Albertan families can make their mortgage payments at the end of the month, put dinner on their tables each night, put money away for their children’s college funds, and save for a future. These 7,000 jobs will bring hope to the many that have felt so hopeless for so long.
Our government decisively chose to make this investment right during the height of a global pandemic and economic meltdown to send a clear message: Alberta matters, and we will not let the world control our economic future. Here in this province, we control our own destiny, and no global market forces whether they be disease or dictatorship will stop us. We won’t wait until after a pandemic passes to pick up the pieces and rebuild, but rather will be proactive in ensuring we are formidable against that pandemic. With this investment, our government has sent a clear message to the world that our people and our industry will prevail.
This Keystone XL investment will push us away from the sidelines where the world has tried to relegate us and put us directly in the running to be right where we belong – as a key supplier for the world’s natural gas. This investment also puts us in a better position to be energy independent, rather than being reliant on the middle east.
At the same time that we announced this investment, we also began discussions with American senators around the creation of a North- American cartel and oil price to make us more resilient to the predatory dumping by OPEC. Our government has always been proud of our innovative and environmentally conscious energy industry and the pivotal role it has played both in our province and our country. Alberta’s energy sector is Canada’s largest industry both by dollar amount and by job count, and it is time that a government took meaningful action to advance its success. If that means looking at creative solutions and direct investments to make us globally competitive, then our government will do just that. This $1.1 billion investment – for which TC Energy will fully buy back our share once the pipeline is operational – is good for our province, good for our people, good for Canada, and good for the future of clean, ethical energy around the world.
By Miranda Rosin, MLA
