Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Pipeline companies won’t be getting a massive property tax break for Christmas at the expense of some rural homeowners. At least not this year. BC Assessment has backpedalled on a plan to slash the assessed values of transmission pipelines. The move would have resulted in pipeline companies paying significantly less taxes in several municipalities and regional districts, and resulted in local governments significantly increasing property taxes for homeowners and business owners to make up the revenue difference. But after two months of protest and warnings by local government officials, officials in Victoria have announced they won’t be overhauling the pipeline assessments for the coming year. In a news release issued Wednesday afternoon, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District said it had been informed that BC Assessment won’t be changing pipeline values for 2026 ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

With public attention focused on a proposed bitumen pipeline to British Columbia’s northwest coast, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith let drop that Premier David Eby had told her he agreed to a different proposal to expand oil shipments through BC. That proposal would see a 40 per cent increase in the capacity of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline to BC’s Lower Mainland and an increase in tanker traffic in the Salish Sea. “I will acknowledge through gritted teeth this is not something we’re keen about, but we understand the role that we play and we have access to ports that we need to partner to Alberta”  ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Image Credit:   Trans Mountain Pipeline  " David Eby owes everyone in British Columbia a very clear understanding. Where does he stand, and where does the NDP stand on this? "  ~ Peter Milobar, MLA for Kamloops Centre, Conservative Official Opposition Finance Critic   The Conservative official opposition called out Premier David Eby over statements on CTV News on Sunday that he is open to having conversations about a new pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia’s Pacific coast, provided that the so-called “oil tanker ban” stays in place. Enacted in 2019 by the federal government, the ban prohibits oil tankers from docking, loading, or unloading at ports on British Columbia’s north coast, while tankers now regularly load and unload in Vancouver’s Burrard inlet and roughly 20 American tankers make the trip down the B.C. north coast every month. “Is David Eby saying wants another pipeline coming into the lower mainland, down in the Burnaby area?” asked Peter Milob...

Homeowners may be on the hook to cover what amounts to a multimillion-dollar tax cut for pipeline companies operating in BC. After years of lobbying, Enbridge, FortisBC, Trans Mountain and other major companies have convinced BC Assessment to change how it assesses the value of pipelines in the province. A subsequent review has resulted in slashed assessment values, which will, in turn, dramatically reduce the amount of property tax the companies will pay next year. Local taxpayers will have to make up the difference. Outlying communities where pipelines comprise much of the commercial tax base will be most affected ... CLICK HERE for the full story

BC and Alberta have been fighting off and on over pipelines for more than a decade now, but the latest intensifying spat looks to be the most serious yet ... ... the third generation of premiers-arguing-over-pipelines features BC’s David Eby and Alberta’s Danielle Smith. This one is about a different pipeline idea, a resurrection of the Northern Gateway concept of a line from the northern Alberta oilfields to BC’s north coast. That concept was batted back and forth for years from the early 2000s on until Prime Minister Justin Trudeau killed it with a moratorium on north coast tanker traffic in 2015. Now the concept is back again ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The Alberta government is planning to lead a new application for a pipeline to the BC coast. According to the Globe and Mail, three sources have stated the Smith government will be leveraging the expertise of Enbridge Inc., South Bow Corp., and Trans Mountain Corp to consult on the project. The three companies will be working with the government and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute to develop the backbone of the models of a potential route, but the sources say that no final route has been decided upon yet ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

As Alberta Premier Danielle Smith pushes for a crude oil pipeline to British Columbia's north coast, BC Premier David Eby says he's not simply saying no. Instead, Eby said he's against the public funding of such a pipeline. "What I don't support is tens of billions of dollars in federal subsidy going to build this new pipeline when we already own a pipeline that empties into British Columbia and has significant additional capacity — 200,000 barrels," Eby said on Sunday, referring to the Trans Mountain pipeline ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’s ready to convince her counterpart in British Columbia to support building a pipeline to transport oil from her province, through his, to tidewater. BC Premier David Eby said last week he won’t support a new pipeline, arguing the Trans Mountain Expansion Project is already in place ... ... Smith, in an interview with CTV’s Question Period, was asked by host Vassy Kapelos where that emphasis on consensus leaves her pitch for a new pipeline, considering Eby has expressed opposition. “I think everybody is focusing on one particular project,” Smith said, pointing to other potential projects in different provinces. “I’m rooting for all of my provincial neighbours. I want to do everything I can to support them, and I think that’s the spirit that will prevail” ... CLICK HERE for the full story

For decades, a natural gas pipeline has cut through the territories of dozens of First Nations in BC — moving billions of dollars’ worth of gas with zero ownership and little return to the communities. Now, 36 First Nations have bought in. “For decades, the nations have watched resources leave their communities with very minimal benefit,” said Justin Napoleon, from Saulteau First Nation and director of Stonlasec8, a newly formed, Indigenous-owned, limited partnership made up of 36 First Nations in BC, including Treaty 8 members ... CLICK HERE for the full story

British Columbia’s energy minister is backing plans to dredge and deepen Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet to accommodate fully loaded oil tankers, despite concerns from environmentalists, experts and First Nations. The plan, floated recently by Prime Minister Mark Carney, could result in fewer tankers carrying more oil from the Trans Mountain pipeline to markets abroad. The expanded TMX pipeline has been operating since May 2024 and there have been calls to expand it again to help diversify energy exports away from the United States. “We certainly have said we are supportive, given that it would meet the environmental requirements and consultation requirements (with First Nations) that you have,” Energy Minister Adrian Dix said in a recent interview. Dix added that it would be a federal project that “would allow for less traffic at the port and better utilization” because ships could fully load ... CLICK HERE for the full story

T he BC government has thrown its support behind a proposal to dredge Burrard Inlet to allow oil tankers to fill up from the Trans Mountain pipeline and still fit under the Second Narrows Bridge. Energy Minister Adrian Dix said the idea, most recently advanced by Prime Minister Mark Carney in March, would utilize the additional capacity of the newly expanded pipeline, which transports diluted bitumen and refined oil products from Alberta to the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby. “Broadly, the premier and us have indicated our support for it,” Dix said in an interview ... CLICK HERE for the full story

T he Canadian oilpatch has a brand-new pipeline, something it's pleaded for year after year, and it offers a relatively quick route to the West Coast and overseas markets. But a year in, the newly expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline still isn't running at full capacity — though the CEO of the Crown corporation says he doesn't think it's a problem. The pipeline has downgraded its forecasts for the amount of oil expected to flow through the system over the next three years, according to Reuters ... CLICK HERE for the full story

When the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion opened on May 1, 2024, carrying oil from Alberta to the BC coast, there was no grand opening ceremony. The federal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which had bought the project and spent over $34 billion — making the pipeline one of the largest infrastructure projects ever built in Canada — said almost nothing about it. "This was a thing that the Liberal government did right for the oil sector … and they didn't celebrate it at all. There was no ribbon cutting ceremony," said Rory Johnston, founder of Commodity Context, an oil market research service. Even Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, a major Trudeau antagonist, thanked the federal Liberals for finishing the pipeline, saying that it would be a "game-changer" for Alberta's oil industry and hailing it as an example of federal-provincial cooperation ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Prosecutors want members of a disruptive anti-pipeline protest group jailed for a 2021 assault on a Trans-Mountain work camp in the North Thompson. “The accused before this court are not protesters — they are criminals. But they hide behind the mantle of protest in an attempt to legitimize their illicit acts.” Crown prosecutor Anthony Varesi said in court on Monday. Four members of the Tiny House Warriors are being sentenced following convictions stemming from a series of events at a Trans-Mountain work camp in Blue River on Sept. 15, 2021 ... CLICK HERE For the full story

 Construction on the Trans Mountain pipeline in 2022 cost almost $9 billion, almost double the estimate of $5.3 billion , a Global News analysis has discovered.   The expenditure for the Crown corporation expansion, found through a detailed reading of filings that included corporate plan summaries and projections, is one of several line items that reveal how a project purchased by Ottawa exceeded its original cost estimate by a factor of six, from $5.4 billion to $30.9 billion.   The most telling details pertain to “ uncapped ” costs, a catch-all term pipeline companies use to describe expenditures that are more difficult to plan for in advance or that are subject to price swings. Accommodations with Indigenous groups and the cost of steel are two examples.   Another is the construction through B.C.’s treacherous mountains and down to the coast. The ‘uncapped’ costs for this stretch ballooned from an initial estimate of $315 million in 2017 to $7.4 bill...

The Trudeau Liberals potentially wasted up to $22 billion dollars of their $80 billion pandemic health spending due to a lack of "adequate targeting" of those in need, a new study by the Fraser Institute claims. “Our research shows that billions are being borrowed to finance transfers to people whose need is at least questionable, and this at a time when Ottawa is running historic deficits,” said Jason Clemens, Executive Vice President at the Fraser Institute. Post Millennial (August 27 th ) CLICK HERE to read to full story   The audacity and incompetence are stupefying. No wonder Bill Morneau bailed. The study does not address the tens of thousands who did not qualify for the various programs rolled out or those who have lost savings and investments in businesses that will not recover from the lengthy shut-down and ridiculous regulations on reopening. Our government has destroyed the service sector, and the tens of thousands of people employed there have nowhere...

August 21 st , 2019 :   Trans Mountain has issued ‘Notice to Proceed’ directives to some of its prime construction contractors triggering mobilization of the initial workforce necessary to build the Trans Mountain Expansion Project. The directives give the contractors 30 days to mobilize equipment and commence the process of hiring workers, procuring goods and services, and developing detailed construction work plans.  Construction work will soon begin in communities along the route, including along the right-of-way in Alberta between Edmonton and Edson, and in the Greater Edmonton area. This includes an immediate return to work at Burnaby Terminal and on land at Westridge Marine Terminal. Specific start dates in the remaining construction areas are subject to final regulatory approvals and permits.  “ I am pleased to announce another significant milestone for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project with the commencement of construction activi...