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County rallies FCM to back Alberta energy

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Local elected officials continue their crusade for the energy sector.
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At the Dec. 10 regular council meeting, Strathcona County council approved submitting a resolution to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) which urges the organization to advocate the federal government to work with provinces, municipalities and Indigenous groups to establish national utility corridors, whether that be pipelines or other utility structures.
The resolution also asks FCM to advocate Ottawa to repeal or amendment Bills C-48 and C-69. This would help restore investor confidence and ensure the construction of future infrastructure that is in the national interest.
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Mayor Rod Frank, who introduced the motion, said Strathcona County has much to be proud in leading environmentally responsible energy technology such as Shell Scotford’s Quest carbon capture and storage facility which has captured four million tonnes of CO2 since late 2015, the carbon pipelines from Heartland to Red Deer which will converts emissions into feedstock, and the recent $10 million plastic waste reduction research investment by Inter Pipeline at NAIT.
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“We know there is a lot of misinformation out there against Alberta. There’s the demarketing campaign, there’s pipeline politics. I believe there is a role for us to show leadership. We have 40 global companies working in this area and they employ 7,000 individuals, many of whom are local citizens, and they’re contributing billions to the provincial and federal governments,” said Frank. “I think it’s prudent for Strathcona County to ask an organization that we’re a part of, (FCM) to voice this concern for us in their advocacy role. It’s not to stoke divisions in the country. It’s to protect and grow the national interest.”
Commonly referred to as the tanker ban, the mayor said Bill C-48 really bans Canada’s ability to export its own goods, and C-69 is known as the ‘kill pipelines bill’, which further makes it harder on industries to work in that sector. Background information provided with this resolution outlined Bill C-48 “handcuffs” Canadian energy products to be sold at a lower price to one customer, which is not sustainable and both bills have put numerous projects on hold or cancelled.
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The resolution backgrounder acknowledges global energy will shift in the next two decades, but the need for traditional energy products is projected to increase by one per cent annually.
“Renewable energy, while an important industry that should be developed, cannot fulfill the global energy demand for the foreseeable future. (Bills C-48 and C-69) have served to only restrict Canadian goods from getting to market while allowing energy products from countries, that do not develop their resources to the same environmental standards, into Canada, further increases the environmental impact of unethically produced energy products,” detailed the resolution.
The motion was passed unanimously by council on Dec. 10.
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“I’d like to send a clear message (to FCM) that we need an Alberta voice in that organization,” added Frank.
This was another layer of advocacy by the county, following a similar resolution filed at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), a pro-energy letter written in the summer, and joining with multiple other Alberta municipalities in wearing “Support Canadian Energy” t-shirts and buttons at the FCM annual conference in late May.
On Dec. 2, the Premiers of Canada highlighted growing the economy as one issue they are united on and urged the federal government to take immediate action to enhance Canada’s economic competitiveness, which includes responsible development of natural resources, expanding international trade, and removing protectionist restrictions on Canadian goods.
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Ward 1 Coun. Robert Parks noted he’d like to see more teeth put into the resolution by having the county take a leading role to reach outside of its borders to consult municipalities outside of Alberta and Assembly of First Nations, Métis National Council, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, and any other relevant First Nations groups to get letters of support prior to presenting the resolution in Toronto in June 2020.
“I’d expect a motion like this would gather a little bit of feedback from both sides and I think having letters of support from not just in the Industrial Heartland in Alberta would likely make it a little bit more powerful. On top of that, it would further position Strathcona County as a leader for energy exports and moving the country on energy policy,” said Parks.
The resolution will be debated at FCM on June 4-7.
lmorey@postmedia.com
twitter.com/LindsayDMorey

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