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OTTAWA — Wildrose Alliance leader Danielle Smith, sounding an alarm about the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to the B.C. coast, argued Thursday that an oil sands pipeline should instead go to Atlantic Canada.
Ms. Smith, expected to give Alberta Premier Alison Redford a serious challenge in the upcoming spring election, advanced the idea publicly for the first time at a speech in Ottawa.
She offered what she described as a solution to the problems faced by land-locked Alberta given the Obama administration’s rejection of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico, and the aggressive environmentalist-aboriginal campaign against the Enbridge Inc.’s $5.5-billion Gateway project to Kitimat, B.C.
“As we look to move our oil sands to market in the face of resistance to the south and west coast, an all-Canadian solution is looking increasingly attractive,” Ms. Smith said in a speech to the Economic Club of Canada that was attended by several Alberta Tory MPs and former political staffers who worked under Reform party founder Preston Manning.
She noted that Shell is considering plans to upgrade bitumen at its Sarnia refinery, while Suncor is contemplating the same option in Montreal.
“With pipelines in place all the way to Montreal, the next step would be to build a pipeline to the deepwater port in Saint John, N.B., that currently imports crude.
“Let’s upgrade more oil sands in Canada using retrofitted existing facilities across the country. This would increase the use of domestically produced crude, it would eliminate imports, then we would export the remainder into new markets using an Atlantic marine route.”
A debate has emerged about the feasibility of an oil sands pipeline to the East Coast, with commentators such as former Canadian ambassadors to the U.S. Derek Burney and Frank McKenna advocating the idea of a pipeline to the Irving refinery in Saint John.
However, University of Calgary economist Jack Mintz wrote in December that the “economics are not particularly encouraging for East Coast pipelines.”
Ms. Smith, who spent much of her speech ridiculing Ms. Redford’s call for a Canadian Energy Strategy, has criticized the Premier for failing to convince B.C. Premier Christy Clark to move off her on-the-fence position. Ms. Clark has said that Victoria won’t make a decision on whether to support Gateway until after the National Energy Board’s hearings conclude next year.
But she also expressed sympathy for Ms. Clark’s dilemma.
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