Doug Ford's pipeline dream faces immediate headwinds

With an Alberta referendum on pursuing secession looming in October, the premier touted a 3,300-kilometre crude oil pipeline that would run from Hardisty, Alta. to Sarnia, Ont.

The premier said the Northern Shield Energy Corridor, which his government is now promoting with an advertising blitz, is “a critical next step in building a more united, more prosperous and more resilient Canada.”

But given that it lacks a private-sector proponent, Ontario taxpayers could be on the hook for a project that might cost $33 billion if it is ever completed.

To determine next steps, Infrastructure Ontario is overseeing a feasibility study being done by a who’s who of blue-chip engineering and project management consultancies: AtkinsRéalis (formerly known as SNC-Lavalin), EY Canada, GHD, Mokwateh, Wood PLC, and Turner & Townsend Limited.

“We will have this (study) done by the end of the year, then we’ll be able to give you a straighter answer,” the premier said Monday in Calgary when pressed by reporters for details of the scheme.

While the eastbound pipeline could be even more difficult to realize than his proposed 50-kilometre tunnel under Highway 401 — linking Mississauga and Brampton to Scarborough and Markham — Ford insisted “it’s a great investment” that would benefit the entire country.

Never mind that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is not especially interested because its focus is on another taxpayer-subsidized pipeline to the southern B.C. coast unveiled last Thursday.

Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson’s office pointed out that “given the west coast pipeline proposal is sufficiently advanced to have been referred to the Major Projects Office due to its diversification and nation-building potential, that project is our priority at this time.”

Never mind that Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, who wants a pipeline to the Port of Churchill to ship oil out via Hudson Bay, would still have to be convinced to come aboard.

In a terse statement, Kinew’s office said “major nation-building projects have to be built the right way” and “that’s why we’re continuing to work directly with northern communities, Indigenous nations, and the Manitoba Crown Indigenous Corporation as we advance discussions around Churchill’s future.”

Never mind that even Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, a booster of Ford’s project, inadvertently blurted out that the Northern Shield Energy Corridor wasn’t exactly her top pipeline priority when she was asked how Alberta could increase oil production capacity.

“Not only can we fill the South Bow line, we can fill the west coast line, we can fill our new northern — what we were calling yours? North?” said Smith turning to Ford at their joint announcement.

“Northern Shield,” piped in the Ontario premier.

“Northern Shield,” repeated Smith, sounding like she hadn’t heard the name before. “Our new Northern Shield pipeline.”

Despite that awkward moment, Ford gave her a gift far more precious than the cowboy belt buckles they exchanged at the end of their Stampede news conference.

The Ontarian, who in May had blasted Smith’s decision to hold a referendum on whether Alberta should move toward separating from Canada, rallied to his Western counterpart.

“Let me cut to the chase here. The previous federal government — not this one, the previous federal government — treated Alberta like garbage, like terrible. I’ve never seen anything as bad as that,” said Ford, referring to former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s view of the oilpatch.

“So I know that Premier Smith wants a proud, sovereign Alberta — part of Canada — and again, we’re there to support her. It’s Team Canada. I’ll do anything we can.”

Ford’s hopes of uniting the nation behind his Northern Shield Energy Corridor may never come to fruition, but he has certainly unified opponents of yet another publicly subsidized fossil-fuel megaproject.

Rare is the day when such similar condemnation comes from across the political spectrum.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation sniffed “governments are blocking pipelines with carbon taxes and red tape and then wasting taxpayers’ money trying to get projects built.”

“This is like the government dumping nails all over the road, popping your tires and then spending your money to buy new tires,” said CTF Alberta director Kris Sims.

Greenpeace’s Keith Stewart charged “why don’t we cut out the middleman and just have Canadians send their tax dollars directly to ExxonMobil?”

“There is no private sector proponent for these pipelines because there is no business case in a world where electric vehicles and heat pumps powered by wind and solar energy are cheaper, cleaner and faster to deploy than the fossil fuel mega-projects that are fuelling heat waves and wildfires.”