Some people will lionize former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in years to come, while others will refuse to acknowledge that he ever did anything good for our country.
I could list a few bullet points on each side of the ledger. One positive item seems to have already been lost in the avalanche of points to consider.
The trans mountain pipeline was born in a different era in the 1950s to carry Alberta oil to ocean ports.
In 2013 Kinder Morgan proposed an expansion project (TMX) to increase the flow from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day. As the oil flowed out of Canada, the money would be flowing in, to a country that then, as now, badly needed some source of income other than taxes.
Kinder Morgan finally gave up after languishing in Canada’s approval process for 5 years.
The Trudeau government stepped in and purchased the pipeline for $4.5 billion dollars. The powerful anti-oil crowd were outraged. Trudeau opponents were quick to blame his government for spending taxpayer dollars when it could have been funded by foreign investors. And many regular citizens, like me, thought that it was a white elephant that would remain unfinished and sit as a physical reminder of the day that 4.5 billion flew out the window.
Well, the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline came online on May 1, 2024. And … thanks to President Donald Trump, the TMX is expected to be running at full capacity within 2025, 2 years ahead of schedule.
Maybe, dare I say hopefully, someday, the world will no longer use fossil fuels. However, by that time, thanks to the Trudeau government Canada will have recouped its investment and lots more.
At its peak the construction phase employed 5,500 people.
The annual impact on our economy may seem small but remember that it is per year, every year for the foreseeable future.
4 billion per year for producers, along with the employment and taxes that that pumps into the system.
1 billion per year to B.C., 4 billion per year to Alberta and 1 billion per year to Canada.
The $4.5 billion will have made its way back into some segment of the Canadian economy within the first year.
In my opinion, Mr. Trudeau and his team made the right call on that one.
I found the various details by doing a search on TMX pipeline.
The Centre Line 