Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet must decide by midnight tomorrow whether to approve the C$6.5 billion ($6 billion) pipeline, which would carry diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands across British Columbia. Canada’s petroleum industry is seeking measures to move landlocked crude to offshore markets with another proposed pipeline, TransCanada Corp’s, Keystone XL, in regulatory limbo in the U.S.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said signs point toward the federal government permitting Northern Gateway. “We’re hopeful approval’s coming,” Wall said in a June 12 phone interview. “I’m reading the tea leaves and picking up on signals like everyone else.”
Don’t blink.
Damn The Torpedoes Full Speed Ahead…do it.
Harper and his people will approve this project, he knows the preening narcissist in chief is a dud and not to be bothered with anymore on Keystone. As the head hunters take over Iraq, America has Mr Heinz ketchup squalling about climate change being the biggest threat to humanity, Harper recognizes duds. Where is this climate change? America you elected duds, seems you like duds thats why Beiber is there and to add one more dud Justin, Canada will gladly give America Turdo la Doo, he would fit right in with your dud administration.
In the name of God, just do it, dammit!
Just build the damn thing already! It’s the right thing for the country… Foreign billionaires and their Canadian capo’s won’t like it, but honestly, who gives a shit what they like or don’t like. Build it already!
The irony will be that the “evil” people will try to build it and the environmentalists will try to blow it up.
Sorry meant to put “environmentalists”. Silly me, it is of course a no-brainer.
IF they do approve the pipeline then even bankrupt Ontario will have improvement in mining and manufacturing sector … BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan’s population will increase greatly with skilled workers. This will be a boost in the economy for the Maritimes … where many come to work in the Oil Sands presently. The supporting industries will boom, and as a whole, Canada will be the envy of the world.
Now is the time for the Federal Government to do what is best for the country. IF it is approved, then there would be less need for the XL Pipeline, and it will be the USA’s loss of a steady oil supply. With reversing the oil flow to the east, then the European countries will desire our oil and become less dependent on Middle-east oil and Russia.
Go for it, Mr. Harper! It is the right thing to do. There is no such thing as a climate change “problem.”
Ditto
Is the Western Separatist party still around ?
We know that the flakes in Ontario,Quebec, and B.C. will always demean our citizens and our industries while demanding our dollars.
If PM Harper does not stand up for the interests of Saskatchewan and Alberta, we must do it on our own.
Let the Eastern bastars and their B.C. friends freeze in the dark.
We don’t need them , they need us.
It is foolish to pretend otherwise because of a vague ‘nationalistic pride’ that is not reciprocated.
Meanwhile we have 600 or so community cesspools that call themselves ‘nations’, yet can not stop wild dogs from eating their children, or care enough to educate the others on how to survive in the modern world, where they won’t become dog food.
They live in a ‘bizarro’ world where it is noble to thwart the oil industry while simultaneously accepting tax dollars that come from the oil industry.
Canada needs a reality check, the sooner the better.
The issue is not whether it will be approved. The issue is how many of the 207 conditions coming from the NEB environmental assessment report will be adopted by the government, or whether it adds any of its own.
If this is approved, does Canada need our (US) Dear Leader to approve Keystone to move your oil? Or can you tell the US to go screw itself?
Immediately upon approval of the Northern Gateway Pipeline the Prime Minister Harper must fully engage The Osoyoos Band Chief, Clarence Louie as his ally.
Osoyoos Band Chief Louie is the only bright light in the murky swamp of First Nations affairs in ALL OF CANADA!
Pay attention MR, PRIME MINISTER!
I AM, JOE MOLNAR
Same ignorant Yank here. Bloomberg says it will move oil across BC, but map shows it moving east. What am I missing?
I guess it will be approved – the unfortunate side effect is that it will cost the PCs a lot of critical votes
TDS – can’t see the map – but it will move from Alberta west to BC
Approve Keystone. And haul Christy Clark into the woodshed and advise her that if she doesn’t get on board, there will be no federal government approval for BC to move LNG out of the country.
There are three lines proposed from the second largest oil reserves in the world. One to the west coast ,one to the east coast and one to Texas. We can fill them all
“The issue is how many of the 207 conditions coming from the NEB environmental assessment report will be adopted by the government, or whether it adds any of its own.”
I am sure the 207 conditions are simply industry standards or best practices. They were only written as conditions to make it look like the board did their work.
“Is the Western Separatist party still around ?”
I don’t think so but if this pipeline is somehow stopped, I am starting one. In my new country everyone is going to have Indian status by simple declaration. After all, who am I to pick winners and losers based on race.
That’s the idea, to tell Maobamba to flock off with his greenie dreams.
Once they see the oil going to China, there will be a change of heart, but Mao will either be resting in Hawaii, or, heaven forbid, head of the UN…..
I would pay for seats to watch that exchange!
Tomorrow, that sound you hear will be the collective mass of heads exploding on the ecofreak greenie left.
There will be howling and gnashing of teeth. Tehre will be claims that democracy doesn’t work, that the freaks weren’t listened to, taken seriously, allowed to present themselves, etc, etc, etc, grieve, grieve, grieve…..
The bottom feeder with the Dogwood Initiative looked liek he was already blowing some blood vessels today, the fun is just starting
Thanks Erik L and Cal2. Google search for Enbridge route only showed the eastward segment. Ironic if Enbridge is OK’d, Dear Leader approves Keystone, and it doesn’t get built because of lack of need. That could be the best political outcome for Obama, though. He appeases the labor unions, and the enviros (and Tom Steyer)can claim victory.
This ‘debate’ is nothing more than a very successful ploy to keep the enviro-wackos fixated on the inconsequential.
Of course it will be approved, it’s already under construction and proceeding on schedule.
“Another way out might be a slight re-route: According to the Financial Post, Enbridge might be open to rerouting the pipeline to Prince Rupert, which could mitigate concerns about oil spill risks.”
That was the strategy from the beginning. The terminal for the crude will be moved to Prince Rupert where it should have been located. That was the logical choice from the start. It will appear that concessions have been made and the pipeline will proceed on schedule.
PM Harper, make the announcement and put a rush on the building.
There is an unbelievable amount of oil moving by rail, south and east, at the moment. We live no where near any mainline, but had to go to Watrous for a memorial service and during the afternoon we saw two oil trains heading south on the CN line from Watrous. A month ago we saw a number of CP oil trains moving east along the mainline from Regina.
Clarence Louie should be made Minister of Northern and Indian Affairs.
Prince Rupert might be a good idea, as there already is a grain port there.
Approving this pipeline will finally reverse one of PET’s anti-Canadian policies that Canada could remain inside some kind of isolationism that rejected US trade as necessary but not necessarily reject it. A whole foreign policy on energy that a made in Canada price for oil could be created by never selling our oil internationally is about to be thrown in the dust bin of history as the failure it was.
That whirring sound you will hear tomorrow coming from Quebec will be emanating from a graveyard in Montreal and a young pretender with prime ministerial ambitions will be at a loss for anything intellegent to say.
Prince Rupert is a deepwater port with easy short access to the open ocean. Choosing P R takes the wind out of the enviro’s sails. We’ll see if the PC are smart strategists or playing checkers like Mr Zero.
He will have lots of company with empty headed comments tomorrow.
Its never been about oil or spills or anything like that, those are jsut convenient excuses.
This is all the same warming/climate doomsayers, with a different argument.
That could be trouble, as those tankers will have to somehow make their way past the Haida and their longboats. Those Haida are real threatening, dontcha know! /sarc
This is all the same warming/climate doomsayers…
This is all the work of the same leftist progressive anti-everything cult who have their followers believing the world as they know it could run on wind solar and unicorn farts. They view the ideal world as some sort of Gulf Islands paradise where everyone can live like neo-Amish hippies.
The enviro-cult always needs something to focus their hatred on, and they went for the Gateway candy and have been sucking on it like no other. It keeps them occupied so they don’t cause real trouble.
Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Policy went against Alberta’s desires and set the stage for decades of animosity in Alberta towards federal liberals. Harper himself HATES the man for it; Alberta created a new political party because of it. Now Harper is about to do the same thing to BC. . .
I live in Rupert and yes we have a grain terminal and also a federally owned coal port. CN has done a big rail expansion that will probably be used for potash and rumors of other interests swirl. Realtors are loving it. But this a hotbed of NDP supporters so I’m in the minority that support the pipeline. And yes I think Rupert is a better destination simply because getting up the Douglas channel to Kitimat is a tougher stretch to navigate than getting here.
I just hope that the thing is built to some very high standards because any spills along these river systems or on the ocean would be catastrophic X10.
Time to dust off Section 51 of the Criminal Code and get it ready for the paid off Indian “Chiefs” who are making threats. Section 51 is “Intimidation of Parliament” and says “Every one who does an act of violence in order to intimidate Parliament or the legislature of a province is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.”
…built to some very high standards…
Any pipelines must be built to the most stringent standards for spill containment and both the construction and the operation must be diligently inspected. There is no room for expedient or profitable compromise when handling this petro-gunk.
I would prefer to see it refined into finished products in Alberta, then pipe-lined to the coast, and make Edmonton-Calgary the hub for the cheapest jet fuel on the planet. More insurmountable opportunities.
It’s unfortunate we elect so many short sighted politicians to play as ‘leaders’.
the second largest oil reserves in the world.
..yes, but only 10% can be extracted using current open pit mining techniques.
Clean in-situ recovery is feasible with nuclear power.
I’ll throw up in my mouth if Harper makes it more difficult and expensive than it has to be in some useless effort to suck up to leftards or Obama or anyone else. Get the thing built asap and stop giving american’s billion dollar discounts on our oil.
It will be approved. The real guess is the extent of the left’s disapproval.
Like the guy from Prince Rupert said, Rupert was a better destination, and God only knows why they insist on moving supertankers up and down the Douglas channel for the next 50 years. I guess it had something to do with Enbridge saving money on pipe. Otherwise I’m all in favour. Go Northern Gateway.
I’ll throw up in my mouth if Harper makes it more difficult and expensive than it has to be…Posted by: Jay in Calgary
Does that strategy make it easier to for you to swallow it?
Not so. The issue with Prince Rupert is pretty straight forward. It’s already under expansion to quadruple its capacity as a container port. That means four times the volume of shipping simply transfering container ships, and thus a large increase already in ship traffic. And it’s this increase in shipping already under way that’s a principal reason why Enbridge sent the pipeline to Kitimat.
Why don’t we just link it into an Eastern flowing pipeline and pipe the stuff to Halifax? Then we can sell to the Germans and any European country that has money to buy. The problem with going west to BC means we sell to the Chinese (and only the Chinese), which is again putting our eggs in one basket especially if that country decides to do something we’re not happy about.
“Now Harper is about to do the same thing to BC…”
The BC commie-green-freaks, you mean. Those whackjobs will never vote Conservative to begin with, and, to put it bluntly, are outright enemies of modern civilization. There is nothing to be gained by attempting to reason with people like those. Shove the pipelines right through their back yards and do so with a smile on your face.
There are still plenty of reasonable people in BC who understand why this pipeline is a good thing. Those are the people who will continue to vote Conservative with an approval.
Getting the oil to salt water means it’s up for bid. It doesn’t (or at least shouldn’t) mean that the only customers will be Chinese.
Doing backflips to please the environazis will accomplish nothing. The only thing that will give them the slightest bit of pleasure is cancelling the project and they will still vote for the Mulcair Commies.
Backing up a bit from the accepted conclusion that crude will be exported as is, why not refine it first? Solves the tanker problem, and includes jobs and the tax revenue.
Refine it to what? The US alone has at least 20 different gasoline standards for standard grade gasoline. And that’s just gasoline, not all the other petroleum products produced from crude.
And Scar is absolutely right. Getting it to salt water anywhere means it’s up for auction at world prices, not the US-locked-in discounted version. Not just China. India is also in the market as a huge and growing importer. Pleasing the eco-fascists accomplishes nothing except encouraging them to go after the next project even harder.
Foreign purchasers of crude will not sacrifice their refinery capability to buy
refined product from a BC coast refinery. They want the flexibility of sourcing
their needs from multiple locations. I do not expect Black’s refinery ever to take off.
A refinery option in Rupert or Kitimat does not even discuss the storage requirements of multiple products. The scale would be huge and I suspect prohibitive.
Those who babble about refining it really have no clue what they are talking about. They have no clue as to the cost and risk of building refineries nor the cost to move refined product. They are best ignored.
Past time it was built. Now that the middle East is at war its now an imperative.
Frankly by pass BC.Let the pipeline go East plus North.
They missed their chance for billions. Let them eat it.