Ottawa to announce decisions today on Northern Gateway, Line 3 pipelines

The federal cabinet is expected to announce its decision Tuesdayon two major Enbridge-backed pipeline projects Line 3 and the controversial Northern Gateway, CBC News has confirmed.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his fellow ministers reached their decision last week, but held off publicly announcing their position until this week, after Trudeau returned from a trip to Africa for la Francophonie summit.

Trudeau has scheduled a press conference in the National Press Theatre in Ottawa for 4:30 p.m. ET today. CBCNews.ca will carry his remarks live. He is also scheduled to meet with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley in Ottawa later today.

A third pipeline, Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain, will also be reviewed at a regularly scheduled cabinet meeting in Ottawa, CBC News has learned.

Cabinet must make a decision on that project on or before Dec. 19.

• Trudeaucabinet to review Trans Mountain pipeline Tuesday
• It could be last call for Northern Gateway as Ottawa makes a key decision
• Federal cabinet to make a decision on Line 3,Enbridge'slargest pipeline project ever
• Canada's rejection of coal will clear the air but affect workers and power bills

Decision time for Northern Gateway and Line 3

8 years ago

Duration 1:14

The Trudeau government has to make decisions on the Northern Gateway and Line 3 pipeline proposals by Friday. Here's a look at what's involved.

The government has already laid the groundwork for approving at least one project, courting green-conscious voters with plans to impose a national price on carbon, phase out coal-powered plants by 2030 and overhaul the National Energy Board, the country's regulator.

Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr alsoappointed a ministerial panel to review Trans Mountain, and commissioned Environment Canada to study the project's upstream greenhouse gasemissions. He also committed to deepen consultations with First Nations peoples who live along the route.

Northern Gateway

The National Energy Board and the former Harper government signed off on the$7.9-billion Northern Gateway project, and imposed 209 conditions.But the Federal Court overturned those approvalsin Juneafter it found Ottawa had not adequately consulted Indigenous people along the project's 1,177-kilometre route.

Carr said in September thegovernment will not appeal the court's ruling.

Now, Ottawa will have to decide whether it willissue an extension andlaunch further consultations with Indigenous people, approve the project in defiance of the Federal Courtor reject the project outright.

The proposed Northern Gateway pipeline would carry diluted bitumen produced in Alberta'soilsandsto an export terminal inKitimat, B.C.

Trudeauhas not hidden his opposition to the project in the past, and openly campaignedagainst itduring the last election.

"The Great Bear Rainforest is no place for a crude oil pipeline and I haven't changed my opinion on that," the prime minister added inSeptember, referencing the protected area through which the pipeline would travel.

Line 3

The second project, Line 3, is the largest pipeline project inEnbridge'shistory. Ithas attracted considerably less attention, with fewer activists setting their sights on stopping the 1,659-kilometre project that will carry oil from a terminal nearHardisty,Alta., through northern Minnesotato Superior, Wis.

The NEB signed off on a new Line 3 in April, but with 89 conditions for the segment that runs from eastern Alberta toGretna, Man., near the Canada-U.S. border.

The $7.5-billion Line 3 project would nearlydouble the existing pipeline's volume to760,000 barrels a day.It would funnel oil intoEnbridge'scrown jewel, the mainline system that collectively carries three million barrels a day into the U.S.

The existing line, constructed in the1960s, has been a source of spills in the past, and the company has voluntarily dialled back capacity to address mounting maintenance issues while it pushes ahead with a replacement.

The company is staring down the clock, as the U.S. Justice Department orderedEnbridgein July to replace the entire pipeline by December2017 or commit to substantial safety upgrades to the existing line. That decree is part of a settlement the company reached after amassive 2010spill of3.8 million litres of oilinto Michigan'sKalamazoo River.

Line 3 currently carries "light" crude oil a substancethat is largely drawn from Western Canada's conventional oilfields rather than theoilsands but the proposed upgrade would allowEnbridgeto carry a mix of heavier oil across the border, includingdiluted bitumen, a boon for producers operating near FortMcMurray.

Pipelines at capacity: CAPP

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP)said Canada's network of pipelines is at capacity, and the construction of Line 3 and other projects is essential to get one of the country'smost valuable exports to market.

"Not only is the system unable to handle day-to-day changes in global demand, but supply continues to grow. More than 850,000 barrels a day ofoilsandssupply will come on stream by 2021, and without energy-transportation infrastructure, Canada will be constrained,"TimMcMillan, the president and CEO ofCAPP,wrote recently.

Supply from Western Canada will grow to 5.5 million barrels of oil a day by 2030,CAPPforecasts, while current pipelines can only carry fourmillion barrels.

Speaking ahead of the announcement on Tuesday morning, Conservative MPs Mark Strahl and Grard Deltell urged the Liberal government not to play politics with the decision but instead demonstratesupport for the oil and gas sector by approvingthe pipelines. Failing to allowthe projects to proceed would kill jobs, they said.

Strahl calls on Trudeau to approve pipelines later today

8 years ago

Duration 2:03

Conservative MP, and Natural Resources critic, Mark Strahl calls upon the federal government to approve the Line 3, Kinder Morgan, and Northern Gateway pipelines.