Too little, too late. That’s what Grande Prairie-Smoky MLA Todd Loewen believes when it comes to the NDP’s support of Pipelines. Looking back at the past year, Loewen thinks the government should have supported pipelines from the beginning.
“We’ve seen the NDP Government go from not supporting pipelines to all of the sudden now seem to be pipeline advocates and I think it’s a shame they weren’t supporting them from the start. I think it’s pretty easy to see their support for them now is based on an upcoming election and not a true belief that we need pipelines.”
The Trans Mountain pipeline Expansion Project was originally approved by the Trudeau Government in 2016. It would have involved twinning the existing pipeline between Strathcona County and Burnaby, B.C. The project was stopped by the Federal Court of Appeal on August 30, 2018.
In 2019, Loewen would like to see the government stop talking and take action.
“Governments need to stand up and they need to say okay, this is in the best interest of all Canadians and these pipelines need to go ahead… In the end, it’s the responsibility of the government to approve these pipelines. They went through the proper processes with the NDP and it just seems like the goal posts keep moving and that’s just unacceptable.”
2019 is a double election year for Albertans with a provincial election happening sometime in May and a federal one taking palce on October 21st. Loewen hopes those elections and the lead up to them can get the pipeline ball rolling.