Last week, we learned from the National Energy Board that more oil was being transported on rails than ever before. This news came after the court ruling to halt the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. Conservative MLA for Peace River, Arnold Viersen, says that with the oil taking up space on our rails, we are not able to transport lumber and grains that belong on the rails.
“Particularly in the Peace country, we’ve seen about 8 billion dollars worth of investments leave. We see this in just day to day life. The hotels and restaurants aren’t as busy, there is no investments coming in terms of exploration. The amount of drilling rigs that are operating in Alberta had dwindled significantly from two and a half years ago.” The last count was about 400 rigs when at its peak in 2013, 1800 rigs were operating. Viersen says that in a recent statistic he came across, he learned that 137 thousand jobs in Alberta oil patches no longer exist. “Our economy has shrunk.”
It’s frustrating for the Conservatives as they are a pro-resource government. Viersen says “we want the world to invest in Canada. Canada has some of the most ethically produced natural resources from around the world and we want to make sure that the world gets more from Canada.”
Viersen says that the best next step would be to get Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to talk to champion this pipeline and talk to the right people to correct the problems.
Alberta’s participation in the climate plan was a handshake deal from the start. If Alberta signed they would get pipelines built because they would get the social license to be able to build pipelines, says Viersen. Premier Notley has temporarily taken Alberta out of the climate plan; after the Trans Mountain expansion project was brought to a halt. Viersen agrees with that decision, however, he is surprised that she is not reversing their stance on the carbon tax.
He says that the carbon tax “disproportionately effects Northern Albertans. We typically drive further, we live in a colder place, transportation for all that we eat costs more now. Carbon tax makes life more expensive and makes everything in Northern Alberta more expensive.”
-LG
