Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would not say whether taxpayers will have to take a loss with the eventual sale of the Trans Mountain pipeline, of which he touted the merits.
“We are confident that the business case for the Trans Mountain pipeline remains solid,” Mr. Trudeau said on Aug. 23 after the Liberal cabinet retreat in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
“We purchased that pipeline to ensure that it would be built and completed because that was in the national interest.”
The government does not intend to keep operating it and previously said it could turn a profit with its eventual resale.
The previous owner Kinder Morgan was threatening to cancel the pipeline’s planned expansion given opposition from environmental groups.
The estimated price tag has since ballooned, coming at $30.9 billion as of last March.
The crown corporation running its operations, Trans Mountain Corp., has recently filed a request to modify one of the last stretches of route to be built having run into engineering difficulties.
Filings made with the regulator say it’s facing opposition from the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation, who had agreed to the initial route crossing their territory.
Trans Mountain Corp. says is urging the approval of the workaround to prevent a significant increase in construction costs and further delays.
The expanded pipeline is planned to become operational in early 2024 and will boost its output from currently 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000.
The prime minister says that discussions are ongoing with “so many” indigenous groups who are interested in buying the pipeline.
“We’re engaged in conversations with them right now, it'd be premature to speculate too much on that,” he said.
The Liberal government has moved forward with ambitious plans and regulations to cut down emissions, but Mr. Trudeau framed the pipeline as “part of the solution as we move towards a cleaner planet.”
“Even as we transform our energy mix, even as we invest aggressively in renewables, we know that there is a need to supplant dirtier fuel around the world.”
The prime minister has not promoted other avenues to increase Canadian hydrocarbons exports.
During the press conference he took a jab at the previous U.S. administration under Donald Trump, explaining why export diversification is important.
“As we learned a few years ago, with a less friendly administration, it’s really important that we diversify our economic and our trade engagements around the world,” he said.
