Alberta is taking the fight over the transportation of its oil to British Columbia.
On Tuesday, Feb. 6 Alberta Premier Rachel Notley banned the importation of B.C. wine to the province.
The boycott is in response to B.C. Premier John Horgan’s announcement that his government is looking at rules to limit any increase in the import of diluted bitumen until the system can be analyzed by an independent panel to determine if it is safe and can deal with any potential spills.
If implemented it could seriously hamper Kinder Morgan’s plan to expand its Trans Mountain pipeline project.
It is also the second volley the Notley government has fired over B.C.’s bow in recent weeks. The first one being when Alberta announced that it would not buy its surplus power from B.C. Hydro’s Site C hydroelectric dam. Considering the mega project isn’t slated to be completed until 2024, it is a mostly an empty threat.
The question being is this the right move and will it convince B.C.’s government not to proceed with the study and possible further regulation?
I believe not.
Now don’t get me wrong, I do want the Kinder Morgan project to go forward, but as a former B.C.er I am concerned about the impact a spill could have. Not only to the environment, but to the province’s economy. Whole communities could lose their livelihoods for a very long time if a spill were to happen.
The threat is real. According to National Energy Board (NEB) data since 2002 data shows there have been 11 leaks spilling from the existing Trans Mountain line.
In order for this project to go ahead without being hindered by the B.C. government and its residents, Kinder Morgan needs to let the public know what the plan is to deal with a potential spill along the route or, even worse, by one of the ships which will transport the bitumen to ports in China and India.
And this is the issue that Kinder Morgan and the Alberta government need to address. B.C. residents need to know how Kinder Morgan plans to prevent spills along the route and how it would respond should an emergency occur. Yes the wine ban will hurt B.C. wine producers and that could pressure the NDP John Horgan led government to reverse its decision, but it is doubtful.
The first reason being, Horgan needs support from the Green Party, which is violently opposed to the project, to prop up his minority government. The second from what I can tell, is that the majority of B.C. residents oppose the project.
Unless both of these reasons are solved an escalating trade war between the two provinces will just end up hurting residents on both sides, including people in Barrhead. What will the impact be on local ranchers if B.C. businesses and residents boycott Alberta beef for example?
