Alberta
Cancelling Keystone XL cost thousands of jobs and billions in GDP: U.S. government report
Keystone facility at Hardisty, Alberta. Photo courtesy Getty Images
From the Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.
Politicians, Indigenous leaders, and labour unions criticized the cancellation for the significant consequences it could have for both Canada and the United States
There is no doubt that Keystone XL’s cancellation was a massive gut punch to Canada and its oil and gas industry. Now the analysis is out showing the impact it had on the United States.
Just a sliver over two years ago the U.S. government nixed the pipeline project which would have added an additional 830,000 barrels of oil per day into the U.S.
The pipeline, which was expected to be complete in 2023, would have provided thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity. In December, the U.S. Department of Energy released its congressionally mandated report on the matter, and it’s now known approximately how many jobs and billions of dollars were foregone due to the cancellation.
The highlighted impacts in the report show that about 20,000 potential construction jobs per year over a two-year period were lost.
The nixing of the project also had a direct impact on the U.S. GDP with a loss of $3.4 billion. Wages were also impacted, with an estimated loss of $2.05 billion in potential earnings.
While there have not been any government numbers released for Canadian job losses, TC Energy said at the time of the cancellation that 1,000 workers would be laid off due to the announcement. It was a missed opportunity to lower costs for U.S. consumers, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Indigenous groups were also impacted by the cancellation.
Dale Swampy, president of the National Coalition of Chiefs noted that “It’s quite a blow to the First Nations that are involved right now in working with TC Energy to access employment training and contracting opportunities.”
Natural Law Energy, an Indigenous-owned energy company, had signed an agreement to invest a $1 billion equity stake in the pipeline. This would have had the potential to create jobs and economic opportunity for Indigenous communities, Natural Law Energy said. More than $600 million in supply and employment agreements for Indigenous-owned companies were expected to come from the project’s construction.
While celebrated by many environmental groups, the decision to cancel Keystone XL was controversial on both sides of the border. Politicians, Indigenous leaders, and labour unions criticized the cancellation for the significant consequences it could have for both Canada and the United States.
Teamsters general president Jim Hoffa’s statement strongly encouraged the U.S. government to reconsider the decision. “This executive order doesn’t just affect U.S. Teamsters; it hurts our Canadian brothers and sisters as well who work on this project. It will reduce good-paying union jobs that allow workers to provide a middle-class standard of living to their families.”
Terry O’Sullivan, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America said, “By blocking this 100 percent union project, and pandering to environmental extremists, a thousand union jobs will immediately vanish, and 10,000 additional jobs will be foregone.”
The United States is the world’s largest importer of oil, and Canada is its top supplier. America will continue to rely on oil imports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Absent Keystone XL, imports will come increasingly from other countries that may not have the same environmental and human rights standards as Canada.
From LifeSiteNews
“If the federal government refuses to abide by the constitution, we will take them to court again to defend our jurisdiction and the thousands of Albertans who work in the petrochemical sector”
Alberta has rejected the Liberal government’s “unconstitutional” federal plastics registry and production limit.
In an April 25 press release, Alberta’s Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz promised to take Liberal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault to court over his proposal to create a plastics registry, mandating companies to report their plastic production and implementation.
“If the federal government refuses to abide by the constitution, we will take them to court again to defend our jurisdiction and the thousands of Albertans who work in the petrochemical sector,” Schulz declared.
“This unilateral announcement is a slap in the face to Alberta and our province’s petrochemical industry, and the thousands of Albertans who work in it,” she continued.
Guilbeault’s plan, set to be implemented in September 2025, would mandate that businesses record how much plastic they place on the market in addition to the amount of plastic waste generated on their commercial, industrial, and institutional premises.
Companies would then report that amount to the federal government. The plan exempts small businesses which produce less than one tonne of plastic each year.
However, Schulz explained that the registry would negatively affect Alberta, as “plastics production is a growing part of Alberta’s economy, and we are positioned to lead the world for decades to come in the production of carbon neutral plastics.”
“Minister Guilbeault’s proposal would throw all of that into jeopardy and risk billions of dollars in investments. This includes projects like Dow Chemical’s net-zero petrochemical plant in Fort Saskatchewan, a $9-billion project that will create thousands of jobs,” she warned.
Schulz further pointed out that the mandate will not reduce plastic production since countries such as China will produce more plastic to make up for Canada.
“If the federal government limits plastic production in Canada, other countries like China will just produce more. The only outcome that this federal government will achieve will be fewer jobs in Canada,” she explained.
Schulz’s statement comes after the November decision by the Federal Court to rule in favor of Alberta and Saskatchewan, declaring that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government overstepped its authority by classifying plastic as “toxic” and banning all single-use plastic items, like straws.
Essentially, the ruling overturned Trudeau’s 2022 law which outlawed manufacturing or importing plastic straws, cutlery, and checkout bags on the grounds of government claims that plastic was having a negative effect on the oceans. In reality, most plastic pollution in the oceans comes from a few countries, like India and China, which dump waste directly on beaches or in rivers.
The November ruling was only one of two recent court rulings that have dealt a blow to Trudeau’s environmental laws.
The second ruling came after Canada’s Supreme Court recently sided in favor of provincial autonomy when it comes to natural resources. The Supreme Court recently ruled that Trudeau’s law C-69, dubbed the “no-more pipelines” bill, is “mostly unconstitutional.” This was a huge win for Alberta and Saskatchewan, which challenged the law in court. The decision returned authority over the pipelines to provincial governments, meaning oil and gas projects headed up by the provinces should be allowed to proceed without federal intrusion.
The Trudeau government, however, seems insistent on defying the recent rulings by pushing forward with its various regulations.
Company sentenced for workplace fatality
An oilfield equipment supplier will pay $360,000 related to a workplace fatality.
On Feb. 21, 2024 in the Red Deer Court of Justice, Isolation Equipment Services Inc. pleaded guilty to one charge under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code for failing to take measures to eliminate the potential danger of equipment or material that was dislodged or moved. The Crown withdrew 28 other charges under OHS legislation. The company was sentenced on April 24.
The charges stem from an incident on a Red Deer construction site on Jan. 13, 2022. A worker operating an overhead crane was positioning a valve bonnet when the equipment released from the rigging, striking and pinning the worker. The worker sustained fatal injuries.
The company will pay $360,000 in total penalties, including a $1,000 fine. Under a creative sentence, $359,000 will be paid to Energy Safety Canada to develop supervisor and competency programs targeting those who work with new, young and inexperienced workers.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act provides a creative sentence option in which funds that would otherwise be paid as fines are directed to an organization or project to improve or promote workplace health and safety.
Both the company and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalties.
Alberta’s OHS laws set basic health and safety rules for workplaces across the province. They provide guidance for employers to help them ensure their workplaces are as healthy and safe as possible while providing rights and protections for workers. Charges under OHS laws may be laid when failing to follow the rules results in a workplace fatality or serious injury.
Quick facts
- Jobs, Economy and Trade does not provide sentence documents. These are available through the Red Deer Court of Justice.
- Victim fine surcharges apply to fines payable to the Crown. The $1,000 fine in this case includes the 20 per cent surcharge. Surcharges are not applied to payments to other entities, in this case Energy Safety Canada, under creative sentences.
- Fatality investigation summaries are posted to alberta.ca/fatality-
investigation-reports 60 to 90 days after court proceedings conclude.
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