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Chamber sits down with Lakeland MP

The Bonnyville and District Chamber of Commerce heard first-hand what the federal government is up to. Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs sat down with members of the local chamber on Friday, Aug.
Stubbs
Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs (left) talks federal politics with executive director of the Bonnyville and District Chamber of Commerce Serina Parsons.

The Bonnyville and District Chamber of Commerce heard first-hand what the federal government is up to.


Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs sat down with members of the local chamber on Friday, Aug. 10, to discuss new regulations, the carbon tax, and the Trans Mountain Pipeline.


“It’s so important to host Shannon Stubbs because, of course, we’re a non-partisan organization, but it’s extremely important that we have our members of parliament who fight for us with the opposition for change, because it really is them who help bring change. By inviting our (chamber) members, it’s really the local voices that are being heard that can be brought back to parliament,” said executive director of the chamber Serina Parsons. “Overall, the decisions made in our government greatly effect our economy, especially noticing the economic recovery that has been said to be happening in Canada, we’re not necessarily seeing that same recovery in our area.”


Understanding the impacts of C-69


Stubbs stressed how bill C-69, new regulations being imposed on the energy sector by the federal government, is going to have major impacts nationally, and ultimately, in the Lakeland.


Under the new regulations, applicants must reference both positive and negative health, social, and economic impacts, and increase Indigenous consultation, among other things.


“C-69 are the new energy regulations, and they will be very destructive to our region,” Stubbs said, adding already projects have been pulling out of Canada as a direct result.


“There’s a whole schedule of things that have yet to be determined for regulations. Energy investment has declined dramatically in Canada. Over $100-billion in projects have been cancelled, the context for this, because the Liberals and the provincial NDP will spin that these are global-external factors beyond the control of governments, that it’s due to prices. But that’s completely false. It’s quite clear that it’s a direct result of those combined layers of costs and red tape at both levels of government.”


She also explained how under these new regulations, it’s strongly believed that no new pipelines will be built in Canada.


“The Bank of Canada right now estimates there will be no new energy investment in Canada after 2019, which is a big problem, not only for our region, but for the entire country, because energy is the number one private investor sector and Canada’s second biggest export,” Stubbs said.


What made Energy East pull-out


According to Stubbs, in 2016, the federal government froze all pipeline applications in order to conduct a whole-scale review of the regulatory process.


Caught up in it all was the Energy East Pipeline application.


Five interim principles were created, including consultation with impacted communities, consultation with Indigenous communities, basic decisions on science, and the most concerning for Stubbs, was the fact that downstream emissions are a condition for pipeline approval.


“How does it make sense to make a pipeline proponent accountable for emissions that happen in production?” noted Stubbs.


She continued, “It took months before they struck up a panel… that was disbanded because there was so much protesting and violence at the beginning. Then there were a few months more before they struck the panel up again, and the rules kept changing, the requirements for Trans Canada kept changing. Trans Canada started saying that they didn’t get what was required.”


The appointed panel eventually determined that downstream emissions had to be accounted for in all pipeline applications. It was following this announcement that Energy East backed out.


Stubbs said the decision to include this condition in regulations had “nothing to do with science, or evidence, or the economic argument, it had to do with votes.”


Talking Trans Mountain


Stubbs believes there are hurdles ahead when it comes to the federal government purchasing the Trans Mountain Expansion.


In fact, she said she had seen the barriers right from day one.


“Immediately upon federal approval, activists, including other levels of government, said they would use every tool in the toolbox to kill that project, and they call it death by delay,” Stubbs detailed. “The prime minister sat on his hands, literally for a year and a half, while all of those activists did exactly what they said they would do. Instead of enforcing federal jurisdiction and the rule of law, they did nothing.”


It wasn’t until “the provinces were threatening each other with trade wars,” that they finally stepped in, Stubbs indicated.


Once Kinder Morgan announced they were dropping the project, the federal government announced they were purchasing the existing assets for $4.5-billion.


This cost didn’t include the construction that was yet to come, or the twinning from Alberta to British Columbia.


“Conservatives had warned it would only be the beginning of the costs… It’s already estimated to cost another $2-billion,” expressed Stubbs, adding construction has been delayed two years.


The carbon tax


“We think it should be repealed for a number of reasons, the first is we’re a natural-resource based country, and no other natural resource jurisdiction on the planet is imposing a carbon tax,” Stubbs said.


She used Australia as an example. Also a natural resource-based country, they too implemented a carbon tax, but they realized it was doing more harm than good.


Stubbs said, “It’s aggressive and disproportionately harmful to low income people, working poor, to people on fixed-incomes, to the most vulnerable who are least able to afford the increase in prices.”


However, there is a glimmer of hope, Stubbs added.


“The Liberals have just said that this is going to damage Canada’s competitiveness. I’m very frustrated with this, but here’s a little glimmer of hope, because now, I think they’ve had a former Liberal finance minister, former parliamentary budget officer, former auditor general, and the Bank of Canada, they’re all saying the number one challenge facing Canada’s economy is undermining competitiveness due to red tape and costs,” Stubbs detailed. “Now the Liberals are saying, at least on major emitters, they’re going to change the threshold slightly, after which, the industry would still pay this carbon tax.”


Although it’s not exactly what Stubbs would like to see, which is the carbon tax repealed altogether, it’s an indication that the government is seeing the damage it’s causing.


She added, “Here are some hopes where they seems to recognize and tweak, but my real concern is, there is still so much collateral damage and catastrophic consequences in the meantime.”


Industry is willing to change


Stubbs stressed that local industry doesn’t have an issue with the carbon levy, in fact, they support reducing their emissions, just not like this.


“It’s not a matter of not wanting to lower their emissions, it’s simply a matter of not being able to meet the level with the time line with existing technologies,” she said, adding it’s just “not feasible.”


Rural crime a priority


When it comes to rural crime, Stubbs has made it a top priority. Recently, Motion 167, Stubbs’ motion to force the federal government to take a close look at rural crime across Canada, was passed in the House of Commons.


“It’s a rare thing for an individual opposition private member to get a motion like that passed,” expressed Stubbs.


It took months of work, but she said it’s a clear sign that she is working on behalf of her constituents to find an answer to the issue.


Parsons said, “I think it’s important to continue to voice our concerns, because if we don’t get out and have these conversations, from a grassroots level, the issues aren’t being raised and heard and that’s really what we’re trying to do.”

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