Go with the flow: Sending western oil to Eastern Canada shouldn't be this difficult

One of the criticisms levelled at Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline
to the West Coast is the export of energy to China. Why, critics argue,
should we be shipping oil to China rather than supplying domestic crude
to Eastern Canada?
Yet, when Enbridge tried to do just that, it was met with an absurd
regulatory stumbling block. Even though its Line 9 pipeline from Sarnia,
Ont., to Montreal has been in the ground for 35 years, the company was
required to go through a National Energy Board review. Public hearings
won't even begin until this fall, more than a year after Enbridge
started the process.
All Enbridge wants to do is reverse the pipeline's flow to the original
direction for which it was designed. The pipeline was built in 1975, at
the request of the government, to take western Canadian crude to
Montreal refineries.
It was reversed 13 years ago to bring imported oil into Ontario.
Because reversing the flow to its original direction basically involves
replacing some valves and fittings, the NEB's involvement in a seemingly
innocuous business decision of a private company exasperated Alberta
Conservative MP Blaine Calkins.
"Does CN come to some regulatory authority to turn a train around on its
own track? Do trucking companies come to some regulatory authority to
turn their trucks around on the highway? It doesn't make any sense to me
at all what business it is for a regulatory agency," said Calkins, who
is a member of the House of Commons standing committee on natural
resources, which recently concluded hearings on pipelines and refinery
capacity.
The Line 9 reversal would seem like a no-brainer. It would give Quebec
and Atlantic Canada - which currently get 80 per cent of their crude
from Europe, Africa and the Middle East - a reliable source of domestic oil.
As Joseph Gargiso of the Communications, Energy and Paperworker's Union
said in support of the line reversal: "A country that is blessed with
petroleum resources like Canada should first and foremost assure that
the country as a whole has access to a guaranteed supply."
The pipeline reversal would also allow the Alberta oil industry to get a
better price for its product.
As with any federal hearing process, taxpayer funding is available to
those wanting to appear at the hearings. The NEB has allocated $165,000
under its participant funding program to assist landowners, aboriginal
groups, incorporated non-industry not-for-profit organizations, and
other interested parties to participate in the regulatory process.
Here's hoping this doesn't end up being another proxy war against
Alberta's oilsands, such as the one being waged against Enbridge's
Northern Gateway by environmental groups with money from foreign trusts.
Brian Jean, the MP for the Fort McMurray region, is preparing a private
member's bill that would prevent foreign trusts from funding opposition
to Canadian projects. If those trusts step in to oppose Enbridge's Line
9, he'll have more ammunition to get the bill passed.