Canada Action on the proposed Teck Frontier Mine

#visionCanada2119

In an effort to help Albertans and Canadians understand each other and have meaningful conversations about energy, the environment, and the economy, Todayville presents this informative post from Canada Action. We invite you to share your questions, comments and concerns. Please note the first time you comment on a Todayville story you will be asked to register as a user. Once registered you are also invited to contribute your own original posts to Todayville’s front page. Thank you for taking part in these important community conversations.

Diagrams and thumbnail photo from Teck.com

From Canada Action

Teck Frontier Mine: 8 Facts You Must Know

With the federal government’s decision on the Teck Frontier Mine coming soon (in February), there’s some important details about this new oil sands project that need to be brought into the limelight.

Teck’s new oil sands mine in northern Alberta will be one of the most innovative projects of its kind to-date, making use of industry-leading technologies to:

> Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity

> Minimize water use and protect water quality

> Reclaim land as soon as mining begins

> Ensure safe, secure tailings storage with leading-edge technology

> Prevent or mitigate possible impacts to wildlife

Fact #1: Global Oil Demand is Growing

But before we discuss these further, it’s essential we are all reminded of the paramount fact that global oil demand is projected to grow by nearly 10 million barrels per day between now and 2040, as outlined in the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) most recent World Energy Outlook 2019.

Heck, that’s the whole reason why Teck has proposed this massive new oil sands mine in the first place. If oil sands growth forecasts by the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER)and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) come even close to being true, with production increasing 50% by 2040 and even more so by 2050, the new Teck Frontier Mine is just a small part of the puzzle for Canada’s energy industry going forward.

We know about projected growth for oil and natural gas demand in the foreseeable future, so why would anyone not want Canada to have as much market share as possible? As one of the most transparent, regulated and environmentally responsible petroleum producers on the planet, it only makes sense that Canada should be one of the last producers “out of the pool.”

> Canadian Oil is in the World’s Best Interest: ESG Scorecard

> Canada Ranks 6th on Democracy Index 2018 (ESG Criteria)

> Canada Tops Environmental Performance Index Among Top 10 Oil Exporters

Canada’s record of oil and gas production is exemplified by Teck’s initiatives to make Frontier one of the best-in-class oil sands mines ever built in regards to both the environment and Indigenous support.

Fact #2: Land Reclamation Will Begin as Soon as Mining Starts

> Land reclamation will begin as mining progresses, adhering to strict regulations set forth by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)

> The actual footprint of active mining will be smaller than the total project area due to on-going reclamation efforts

> With a size of about 292 square kilometres, the mine’s total surface area is about half the size of Edmonton but this land will not be all disturbed at once

Fact #3: Frontier Will Have a Carbon Intensity Less than 50% of USA Refineries

> GHG emissions intensity of the Frontier project will be about 50% less than the oil sands industry average

> Carbon intensity of the Frontier project will be less than half of the oil currently refined in the United States

> Energy efficient mining processes and cogeneration are among the industry-leading technologies that will help reduce GHG emissions

Fact #4: Extensive Work on Prevention & Mitigation for Wildlife

> Extensive assessments of potential effects on fish, wildlife and their habitat have been conducted to ensure the right steps are taken to prevent and mitigate effects during operations and after the mine is closed

> Any affected wildlife habitat will be fully reclaimed to a “…self-sustaining ecosystem with local vegetation and wildlife.” – AER

Fact #5: Frontier Will Have the Lowest Water Use Intensity

> Teck’s Frontier Mine will have one of the lowest water use intensities in the oil sands

> About 90% of water used to process the bitumen will be recycled, minimizing fresh water withdrawals from the Athabasca river

> Off-stream water storage will help to reduce water withdrawals from the river during low flow periods

> Safeguards will ensure water quality is protected and there are no leaks into the water table

Fact #6: Leading-Edge Tailings Management & Technology

> Teck’s Frontier Mine project will use state-of-the-art practices to create a safe and secure placement for tailings

> Centrifuges will de-water tailings fluid before placement mined-out pits, eliminating the need for dams after operations cease and providing increased levels of security for tailings containment in the process

Fact #7: All 14 Indigenous Communities Support the Project

> All 14 Indigenous groups in the region where the Teck Frontier Mine is proposed support the project. They include:

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
MikisewCree First Nation
Fort McKayFirst Nation
Fort Chipewyan Métis
Fort McKayMétis
Fort Mc Murray Métis1935
Fort McMurrayFirst Nation #468
MétisNation of Alberta- Region One and it’s member locals
Athabasca Landing Local # 2010
Buffalo Lake Local # 2002
ConklinLocal # 193
Lac La BicheLocal # 1909
Owl River Local # 1949
Willow Lake Local # 780

Fact #8: Teck Frontier Mine a Much-Needed Boon for the Energy Sector

> Frontier will employ up to 7,000 people during peak construction

> An additional 2,500 people will be employed throughout operations over a project life of 41 years

> 75,000 person-years of employment generated by the construction of Frontier

> $55 billion generated in provincial taxes and royalties

> $12 billion generated in federate corporate income and capital taxes

> $3.6 billion generated in municipal property taxes

Teck’s investment of $20.6 billion in northern Alberta comes at a time where a lack of new pipeline capacity and strangulating regulations have been choking the life out of one of Canada’s most valuable industries.

Frontier will create thousands of new employment opportunities, tens of billions in government revenues and provide a much-needed boost to an industry that has seen countless jobs and investor cash flee in droves to more competitive oil and gas producing jurisdictions over the past five years.

Much like the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, an approval of Teck’s Frontier Mine would help to restore investor confidence in Canada’s energy sector.

With the Trans Mountain Expansion, Keystone XL and Line 3 Replacement set to add more than a million barrels of additional pipeline capacity for Canada in the near future, it only makes sense that this project – with its low carbon intensity and leading-edge environmental initiatives – should provide some of the oil necessary to fill those pipes.

Learn more – Pipelines in Canada: What You Should Know

Canada Action is an entirely volunteer created grassroots movement encouraging Canadians to take action and work together in support of our vital natural resources sector. We believe it’s critical to educate Canadians about the social and economic benefits provided by the resource sector and industry’s commitment to world-class environmental stewardship. We’re strong supporters of Canada’s oil sands and the resource sector generally because we know how important these industries are to Canada’s present and future prosperity.

We’re committed to engaging Canadians in a more informed conversation about resource development, about how important it is to our society and about how we’re doing it well today and improving our practices for the future. We believe that by educating Canadians on the importance of the country’s resource sector – they’ll act on that information, stand up and make their voices count.

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Alberta

Alberta awash in corporate welfare

Published on July 26, 2024

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Matthew Lau

To understand Ottawa’s negative impact on Alberta’s economy and living standards, juxtapose two recent pieces of data.

First, in July the Trudeau government made three separate “economic development” spending announcements in Alberta, totalling more than $80 million and affecting 37 different projects related to the “green economy,” clean technology and agriculture. And second, as noted in a new essay by Fraser Institute senior fellow Kenneth Green, inflation-adjusted business investment (excluding residential structures) in Canada’s extraction sector (mining, quarrying, oil and gas) fell 51.2 per cent from 2014 to 2022.

The productivity gains that raise living standards and improve economic conditions rely on business investment. But business investment in Canada has declined over the past decade and total economic growth per person (inflation-adjusted) from Q3-2015 through to Q1-2024 has been less than 1 per cent versus robust growth of nearly 16 per cent in the United States over the same period.

For Canada’s extraction sector, as Green documents, federal policies—new fuel regulations, extended review processes on major infrastructure projects, an effective ban on oil shipments on British Columbia’s northern coast, a hard greenhouse gas emissions cap targeting oil and gas, and other regulatory initiatives—are largely to blame for the massive decline in investment.

Meanwhile, as Ottawa impedes private investment, its latest bundle of economic development announcements underscores its strategy to have government take the lead in allocating economic resources, whether for infrastructure and public institutions or for corporate welfare to private companies.

Consider these federally-subsidized projects.

A gas cloud imaging company received $4.1 million from taxpayers to expand marketing, operations and product development. The Battery Metals Association of Canada received $850,000 to “support growth of the battery metals sector in Western Canada by enhancing collaboration and education stakeholders.” A food manufacturer in Lethbridge received $5.2 million to increase production of plant-based protein products. Ermineskin Cree Nation received nearly $400,000 for a feasibility study for a new solar farm. The Town of Coronation received almost $900,000 to renovate and retrofit two buildings into a business incubator. The Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada received $400,000 for marketing and other support to help boost clean technology product exports. And so on.

When the Trudeau government announced all this corporate welfare and spending, it naturally claimed it create economic growth and good jobs. But corporate welfare doesn’t create growth and good jobs, it only directs resources (including labour) to subsidized sectors and businesses and away from sectors and businesses that must be more heavily taxed to support the subsidies. The effect of government initiatives that reduce private investment and replace it with government spending is a net economic loss.

As 20th-century business and economics journalist Henry Hazlitt put it, the case for government directing investment (instead of the private sector) relies on politicians and bureaucrats—who did not earn the money and to whom the money does not belong—investing that money wisely and with almost perfect foresight. Of course, that’s preposterous.

Alas, this replacement of private-sector investment with public spending is happening not only in Alberta but across Canada today due to the Trudeau government’s fiscal policies. Lower productivity and lower living standards, the data show, are the unhappy results.

Author:

Matthew Lau

Adjunct Scholar, Fraser Institute

Alberta

‘Fireworks’ As Defence Opens Case In Coutts Two Trial

Published on July 25, 2024

Todayville

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Ray McGinnis

Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert are on trial for conspiracy to commit murder and firearms charges in relation to the Coutts Blockade into mid-February 2022. In opening her case before a Lethbridge, AB, jury on July 11, Olienick’s lawyer, Marilyn Burns stated “This is a political, criminal trial that is un Canadian.” She told the jury, “You will be shocked, and at the very least, disappointed with how Canada’s own RCMP conducted themselves during and after the Coutts protest,” as she summarized officers’ testimony during presentation of the Crown’s case. Burns also contended that “the conduct of Alberta’s provincial government and Canada’s federal government are entwined with the RCMP.” The arrests of the Coutts Four on the night of February 13 and noon hour of February 14, were key events in a decision by the Clerk of the Privy Council, Janice Charette, and the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, Jody Thomas, to advise Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke the Emergencies Act. Chief Justice Paul Rouleau, in submitting his Public Order Emergency Commission Report to Parliament on February 17, 2023, also cited events at the Coutts Blockade as key to his conclusion that the government was justified in invoking the Emergencies Act.

Justice David Labrenz cautioned attorney Burns regarding her language, after Crown prosecutor Stephen Johnson objected to some of the language in the opening statement of Olienick’s counsel. Futher discussion about the appropriateness of attorney Burns’ statement to the jury is behind a publication ban, as discussions occurred without the jury present.

Justice Labrenz told the jury on July 12, “I would remind you that the presumption of innocence means that both the accused are cloaked with that presumption, unless the Crown proves beyond a reasonable doubt the essential elements of the charge(s).” He further clarified what should result if the jurors were uncertain about which narrative to believe: the account by the Crown, or the account from the accused lawyers. Labrenz stated that such ambivalence must lead to an acquittal; As such a degree of uncertainty regarding which case to trust in does not meet the “beyond a reasonable doubt” threshold for a conviction.”

On July 15, 2024, a Lethbridge jury heard evidence from a former employer of Olienicks’ named Brian Lambert. He stated that he had tasked Olienick run his sandstone quarry and mining business. He was a business partner with Olienick. In that capacity, Olienick made use of what Lambert referred to as “little firecrackers,” to quarry the sandstone and reduce it in size. Reducing the size of the stone renders it manageable to get refined and repurposed so it could be sold to buyers of stone for other uses (building construction, patio stones, etc.) Lambert explained that the “firecrackers” were “explosive devices” packaged within tubing and pipes that could also be used for plumbing. He detailed how “You make them out of ordinary plumbing pipe and use some kind of propellant like shotgun powder…” Lambert explained that the length of the pipe “…depended on how big a hole or how large a piece of stone you were going to crack. The one I saw was about six inches long … maybe an inch in diameter.”

One of Olienick’s charges is “unlawful possession of an explosive device for a dangerous purpose.” The principal evidence offered up by RCMP to the Crown is what the officers depicted as “pipe bombs” which they obtained at the residence of Anthony Olienick in Claresholm, Alberta, about a two-hour drive from Coutts. Officers entered his home after he was arrested the night of February 13, 2022. Lambert’s testimony offers a plausible common use for the “firecrackers” the RCMP referred to as “pipe bombs.” Lambert added, these “firecrackers” have a firecracker fuse, and in the world of “explosive” they are “no big deal.”

Fellow accused, Chris Carbert, is does not face the additional charge of unlawful possession of explosives for a dangerous purpose. This is the first full week of the case for the defence. The trial began on June 6 when the Crown began presenting its case.

Ray McGinnis is a Senior Fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy who recently attended several days of testimony at the Coutts Two trial.