Taxpayer Dollars, The Pipeline and Canada's Clean Energy Future

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Three weeks ago the Toronto Star reported that "three Liberals privately suggested to the Star that Prime Minister Mark Carney may put federal money behind a new pipeline to the west coast ... Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say Carney wants to see the pipeline built, and is realizing it may not happen without more public money behind it." Aaron Gunn, the Conservative MP for North Island-Powell River, emailed that he is not interested in discussing rumours. While he recently acknowledged the climate is changing, Gunn also stated Canadians have more important issues to deal with. The pipeline was one of them:  "I will say this pipeline should have been built ten years ago. Instead, the world remains beholden to oil from brutal, dictatorial regimes like Russia and Iran, while Canadian oil sells at a discount to the United States."  Jennifer Lash's response to the Toronto Star article was, "Ottawa is nothing if not a fish bowl of rumours." She did not know who the author was talking to, or how credible they were as sources. There were a lot of Liberal MPs and there was a lot of talk about the pipeline. Speaking as the Liberal candidate for North Island-Powell River in the 2025 election and possibly for the next, Lash said you need to go back to the MOU with Alberta and that clearly states the pipeline is to be privately financed.  "I would be very disappointed if he [Mark Carney] put financial dollars into a pipeline. There's other priorities that the Prime Minister should have and investing more in clean energy right now would be more beneficial for Canada." Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party pointed out that Carney did not say all the funding would all come from the private sector, or that there would be no public contribution. More importantly, there are no private sector proponents for any new pipelines in Canada.  Expanding Canada's Oil Sector "This particular government and this particular Prime Minister keep talking about how Canada will be an energy superpower. Expanding and increasing our exports of fossil fuels is very much part of what they boast they will do. Show us the business case, show us that this isn't going to lose money. Show us that those same dollars invested in solar and wind and protecting an old growth forest don't have a higher return in investment and are better for the Canadian economy than continuing down the road of 'drill baby drill.'" Lash reiterated, "The MOU says privately financed and if the government put in money, that would be publicly financed. So can he change his mind? Of course, we've seen that happen many times, but right now what he supports is a privately financed pipeline."  One point the two women agreed upon was that Alberta is named as the proponent and will undoubtedly put in money as well.