Among supporters of the Northern Gateway pipeline, there has been talk about the project as a "nation-building" exercise, a modern-day railway to the Pacific, moving oil instead of people and other goods, as a connector to distant markets.
The joint review panel, in its report Thursday recommending the pipeline go ahead, wrote "that the project's potential benefits for Canada and Canadians outweigh the potential burdens and risks."
A similar argument is being put forward by B.C. Hydro to go ahead with the construction of the Site C dam. It will be good for the province and its residents, while any negative outcomes are easily outweighed by the many benefits.
If approved, Site C will be built by a Crown corporation. In essence, B.C. taxpayers will bear the risk of constructing a multi-billion dollar energy production facility in the hopes that the future demand for electricity will be high enough to support a price that will help pay for the dam. If predictions for electricity demands hold true, B.C. Hydro and taxpayers will get an excellent return on the investment into Site C.
Meanwhile, Premier Christy Clark has made one of her conditions for B.C.'s support of Northern Gateway and any other new pipeline through B.C. that the province gets its fair share. Instead of waiting for the federal government, the Alberta government and/or the pipeline companies to kick in more money for B.C. maybe Clark should consider putting B.C. in the refinery business if she's looking for the province to bring in more revenue from the pipeline.
A new oil refinery hasn't been built in Canada in decades, mostly because of the incredible cost. Newspaper magnate David Black has proposed the construction of Kitimat Clean, a massive $25-billion refinery near the north coast community. Currently, the raw bitumen would be loaded onto tankers and shipped to China for refining. Shipping raw oil to other countries is as ridiculous as exporting raw logs. Refining, whether it's wood or oil, keeps the economic value and the jobs at home. Kitimat Clean would create up to 3,000 jobs, Black estimates and the refined products, ready for consumption, could then sold to the highest bidder on the world market.
If Clark is serious about B.C. getting its fair share, perhaps the Liberal government needs to put some money on the table first. A public-private partnership to build a refinery in Kitimat would work on many levels. Government support would attract private investors, who would be more willing to jump in with their money because of the reduced risk and the better likelihood of a more immediate return on investment. In exchange, the provincial government could be a silent investor, leaving the responsibility of the operation of the refinery to people who actually know how to operate a refinery and make money doing it.
The annual revenue stream could be in the billions and, once the government's investment would be paid down, provide far more money to support B.C. schools and hospitals than simply taxing the pipeline and the shipping port ever could. Or the government could simply sell its share in the refinery at any time for a handsome profit.
But then there's the risk.
What if the price of gasoline and other oil products wouldn't be high enough to help pay for the refinery? What if the refinery would only be operating at a fraction of capacity, due to a lack of demand? What if the market was so bad that the private investors walked away and left the province holding the bag?
Those are all questions that would need to be answered before putting billions of taxpayer dollars on the line. B.C. Hydro has done a cost-benefit analysis and is making its case that Site C will provide a financial return to the province for decades once it's operational.
If the federal government grants a certificate next summer for Enbridge to proceed with Northern Gateway and the expected court challenges are resolved in favour of the pipeline, then maybe the best course for B.C. should be "if you can't beat them, join them."
Just a thought.
