Canada is not working
Despite the public support for the Trans Mountain project (According to an Ipsos poll 56% of Canadians support the project at a federal level, while 55% support it at a provincial level in BC) the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled against its further development.
The court's decision to reject the National Energy's Board approval of Trans Mountain is atrocious. What's more, this ruling highlights the incredibly convoluted system of consultations, appeals, and revisions that are currently holding the country back from lifting communities out of poverty, and becoming a senior economic partner in the world energy market.
To understand how the court arrived at their ruling, The Fraser Institute has published a breakdown of the reasons behind the court's decision, along with a snapshot of the current process in place for consultation in Canada.
To date, the Trans Mountain project has gone through 24000 points of engagement with First Nation's communities, 159 open houses, and 1700 meetings between project staff and stakeholders. (Source: Trans Mountain expansion project at www.transmountain.com)
Yet the court's ruling has chosen to ignore the incredible lengths the industry has gone to solidify the project's approval following the regulator's conditions, and in turn, has put Canada's hydrocarbon industry at a standstill.
Instead of bogging down projects with innumerable amounts of red tape, our government and regulating bodies need to acknowledge the countless benefits that a hydrocarbon industry brings to Canada. Canadian hydrocarbons are modern miracles that have dramatically increased the human quality of life and outcomes in terms of health care, nutrition, education, safety, and transportation.
Canada’s hydrocarbon industry is a world leader in innovation, safety, and environmental protection that employs citizens from coast to coast. Support of Canadian energy projects helps us to maintain our world-class quality of life, including schools, hospitals, and social programming.
Life is better with Canadian hydrocarbons.
To access the Fraser's Institute publication, please click here.