A group that represents oilfield service and supply companies asked Ottawa earlier this year to use equalization payments as leverage to get reluctant provinces onside with pipeline projects.
The Petroleum Services Association of Canada made the pitch last February as part of its federal budget submission, which was obtained by The Canadian Press through an access-to-information request.
The association recommended that the federal government "amend equalization payment criteria such that transfer payments can be reduced or forfeit if a recipient province refuses transit of extra-provincial goods and/or products, or unduly impedes another province's market access, including unreasonable delays to transportation infrastructure projects."
Equalization payments are meant to help even out fiscal disparities between so-called "have" and "have not" provinces.
Mark Salkeld, president of the petroleum services group, said in an interview that the idea was to push some buttons.
He said the suggestion was not aimed at any particular province, although he added that the challenges the Energy East pipeline proposal has faced in Quebec have been frustrating.
He admitted that selling Ottawa on the proposal is "probably not very easy."
"But the whole point is to push buttons and wake people up," he said. "That's more or less a poke in the ribs ... The parochialism is getting sickening."
It's not the first time equalization in exchange for market access has been floated.
When Montreal-area mayors came out against the $15.7-billion Energy East proposal in January, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall tweeted that he trusted they would "politely return their share of $10B in equalization supported by the West."
The pipeline would carry Alberta bitumen through Central Canada to New Brunswick for refining and exporting to foreign markets.
Last week, Quebec was once again the epicentre of the Energy East debate when raucous protests disrupted the opening day of hearings in Montreal. The hearings have been suspended while the board decides if two panel members should step down amid conflict-of-interest concerns.
In its budget proposal, Salkeld's association said it understands the need for Canadians to trust pipeline reviews, but "there are vocal minorities who will never be satisfied."
Investment in oil and gas helps Canada grow its middle class and fund infrastructure and social programs, it argued.
"Provinces that hinder such growth and opportunity should not benefit from this lack of support and co-operation."
Keith Brooks, programs director with the organization Environmental Defence, called the recommendation "highly problematic."
"It's an absurd proposal."
Matters such as providing clean drinking water are a provincial responsibility, so provinces shouldn't be penalized for making sure rivers and lakes aren't polluted by a potential pipeline oil spill, he said.
And the benefits of oil and gas extraction aren't shared evenly throughout the country, Brooks said, because provinces reap royalties from resources extracted within their boundaries.
"Other provinces that aren't receiving benefits are asked to shoulder the risks and often times those risks outweigh the benefits."
Salkeld said he did not discuss transfer payments when he met last week with Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr.
But he did bring up other ideas such as federal help in cleaning up inactive oilwells, which he said would provide a much-needed jolt to Alberta's ailing economy.
Carr's office declined an interview request and referred questions to Environment and Climate Change Canada. It said the government was "not in a position at present to provide views on particular stakeholder proposals put forward in response to Budget 2016."
Environment Canada spokesman James O'Regan said in an email the government is gathering feedback for a national approach to climate change and clean growth, which first ministers are to finalize this fall.
Comments
The oil industry has already received massive subsidies and breaks from the Trudeau administration. During the election, the liberals promise to overhaul the NEB but have not done that and are allowing hearings to proceed under a situation in which the NEB is filled with perceived conflicts of interest. Secondly, during the 2015 election campaign, the liberals promised to overhaul the Environmental Assessment Act. In various other environmental laws. This is not been done and yet applications for pipelines are allowed to proceed under the rules set by the Harper government which were, in fact, largely written by representatives of the oil and gas sector. But there is still resistance to new pipelines.
To discourage such resistance now the Petroleum Services Organization of Canada wants the government to use extortion with respect to equalization payments in order to get acceptance of industry pipeline proposals. Such a move appears to have been sanctioned by Brad Wald who has shown his concern for the environment with such light regulations that they hardly know what to do in approaching the Husky oil spill in the North Saskatchewan River.
In fact, he spoiled industries that have been subsidized by taxpayers for billions of dollars should be cut off immediately and allowed to meet their own costs with their own overfull retained earnings. It is also preposterous to ask for subsidies to clean up the oil fields that they despoiled.
None of this is acceptable and regular citizens should be protesting the proposal and if any further help is given to these industries there should be riots on the street.
Transfer of payments, hmmm!
Never mind returning transfer payments of $8G, QC (and other provinces) should stop sending $50G to the federal until we review what portion of the difference ($42G) is diverted to petrol and ask why QC should subsidize an industry that is poisoning our air, water, land, flore and faune. Plus the oil industry don’t pay their bills, for the Canadians that lost their health or life because of their degrading of the environnement, for the damages they create (Who’s paying for the Lac Mégantic disaster? QC taxes.), for the mess that is left behind after they stop using a well.
As other informed Canadians, in QC we believe NASA and real scientists about climate changes and find it incoherent that Canada as member of COP 21 has not yet stopped subsidizing an industry that has been unwilling to clean their act on environnement for the last hundred years.
If the “petrophiles” stay in denial for too long about the disruption that is about to come, they will witness or finish like Kodak, Nokia, Nortel, RIM.
Remember the pundits in 2006 were telling people to ignore Apple with their iPhone, because it was a “computer company”, knew nothing about telephone and will nose dive. Same thing in 2009 about the iPad. After 2007 and 2010, disruption.
Electric vehicle is an iPad on 4 wheels, it is coming faster than we can see.
What will Canada do with all these pipelines filled with poison inside rusty and defective parts about to burst in our drinking water?
Someone needs to poke your ribs, Mark Salkeld and Brad Wall, you wake up, before we accuse you of leading the way to “stranded assets”.
There is no job on a dead planet.
I prefer a severe spill of solar energy, it is called a nice day.
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