—the second day of study on the energy data study. Our witnesses can come back. We can reschedule it.
So I'll continue.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The B.C. NDP coalition challenges the federal government's jurisdictional authority aggressively and threatens ongoing attacks and roadblocks through construction. The coalition also confirms that even if the expansion does get built, it will attempt to restrict the volume in the pipeline. This of course would negate the whole purpose of this expansion, which is in the national interest, if successful. But support for the Trans Mountain expansion is growing. It's supported by the majority of Canadians. It's confirmed that an ever-growing and vocal majority of British Columbians support the Trans Mountain expansion too, so we should not confuse the actions of a coalition of anti-energy activists, who are just doing exactly what they promised to do, with a growing majority of British Columbian residents.
The Prime Minister obviously should have anticipated this attack on Trans Mountain, since the B.C. NDP-Green coalition never supported it. They did openly campaign on killing it. But the Prime Minister himself said—this is one of the things that deeply concerned the people I represent in Lakeland—that he didn't bring up the pipeline expansion in his first call with the B.C. premier in June 2017. It's taken 10 months and a full-blown economic and constitutional crisis for him to meet about it personally for the first time, with the project on the line. Clearly, as co-operative and dedicated colleagues and members of this particular committee, we should do everything we can to assist with the resolution of this crisis. The Prime Minister does keep repeating that this pipeline will be built. We hope that will be the case and that it's not too late, but the concern is that he can't say when or how. This is why I'm bringing this motion to this committee and asking for all of us to engage on it immediately.
Even as recently as Sunday, the finance minister suggested that the Liberals will put forward some kind of legislation about it. He said it should happen, quote, “rapidly”, but he couldn't or didn't say when: “We don't have exact timelines.”
A couple of days earlier, the natural resources minister said “nothing has changed” when Kinder Morgan confirmed it may still be, quote, “untenable”. He also indicated that Canadians could expect legislation, except he didn't know when or which minister would bring it forward. The timeline is clearly crucial because of the deadline from Kinder Morgan.
Clearly, our committee should bring our attention and advocacy to this urgent situation in an effort to resolve this crisis and to ensure that the expansion can proceed. Economic opportunities and social benefits for indigenous communities are at stake too. Of course, the incredible innovation, research, fiscal, and technological partnerships between the private and public sector unlocked development of the oil sands along with significant advances in environmental stewardship and energy efficiency in the many partnerships with indigenous communities like the Mikisew Cree First Nation and the Fort McKay First Nation. They've also enabled that resource development, which has long been a major driver of job creation and government revenue benefiting all of Canada. In fact, it wasn't so long ago that nine out of 10 full-time new jobs created in Canada were created in Alberta. That benefits everybody in every part of our country. That was in large part because of Alberta's booming energy industry and the development of the oil sands resource.
Every indigenous community that the pipeline crosses, those directly impacted by it, supports the expansion, and 43 have benefit agreements. They too need us, as members of this committee, to address the ongoing obstacles against the Trans Mountain expansion and to fight for their ability to pursue opportunities through responsible resource development and the completion of the pipeline expansion.
In 2016, when the project was waiting for approval, the former chief of the Whispering Pines/Clinton Indian Band, Michael Lebourdais, said:
I want the money from our resources...so that we can pay for our health, so that we can pay for our education, so that we can pay for our elders, so that we can pay to protect our environment, so we can build better pipes, we can build better bridges, we can build better railways.
Peters First Nation recently sent a letter to the Prime Minister, in which they said the following:
We are concerned that among all of the well-funded and highly publicized opposition to the project, the voice of Indigenous nations that support [the Trans Mountain expansion] has been lost. In our view, the construction and operation of the project will provide significant and much-needed benefits to our membership. We are concerned that these benefits are in jeopardy given recent project delays.
We request that the Trans-mountain expansion project proceed as planned. We believe that—having approved the project—your government now has an obligation to Peters First Nation to ensure that the TMX is not unduly jeopardized. That means working diligently to ensure that permitting is carried out in a fair and timely manner, and that construction can proceed on schedule. We fear that, if your government does not take sufficient action to address these issues, our work over the past years to ensure that the project will benefit our membership will be for naught.
Peters First Nation has lived with the original pipeline that was built over 50 years ago seated at the base of our mountain and above our homes with no worries or incidents. We believe that the TMX pipeline is the safest way to transport the needed natural resources out of our country for the benefit of all Canadians. In saying that we could tell you the statistics of how the pipeline is the safest way, but you've all heard the same speeches....We need to transport this material safely, we feel that the TMX pipeline is the safest option.
Peters First Nation has been in existence since the time memorial and in that time our family has witnessed many changes without our consent or opinion until now. We believe the TMX will not only help us to be more independent but help everyone across the nation. We are not the only First Nation that believes this as 41 other First Nations have done studies and agree with the expansion project including the nine nations that TMX directly impacts and travels through. That is not all, 19 municipal communities that are directly in-line with TMX have seen the benefits of this expansion project as well. This means that over 95% of the route of where TMX directly effects people has been approved by directly impacted communities.
Peters First Nation would like to draw everyone's thought to the positive effects that TMX can provide under the right management. Over three hundred million dollars a year would flow directly into British Columbia alone by way of taxes to the pipeline and agreements signed. In turn that could mean shorter wait times at hospitals, instead of closing schools the government may be able to open a few new ones. Some of those funds could help with our wildfire programs in which we suffered greatly over the past few years with the raging fires or getting a few more police officers out there to protect our people, if you can name a government paying job that does not need funding I would ask you to do so at this time. We would like you to consider the jobs that will be created by this project, not only for the two year construction plan but also the jobs after construction. These jobs are needed in the communities along the pipeline and will create revenue for small businesses and big businesses alike. TMX will give opportunities to people to hone their skills and trades as well, which we need in B.C.
Peters First Nation is giving its full support to the TMX and we have been here since time immemorial, please take this into consideration.
Chief Ernie Crey of Cheam First Nation said:
If the project doesn't go through, it'll hurt our people. It appears Premier Horgan is prepared to actively undermine the prosperity of First Nations in B.C.
He also said:
In my opinion, if Kinder Morgan TMX doesn't proceed, hundreds of millions of dollars will be forgone for first nations all the way along the pipeline route. Why I say this is that, taking my own community as an example, we negotiated really hard, and it was really my young council—they're a little over half my age—that negotiated this agreement.
Don Matthew, councillor of the Simpcw First Nation, said, “If the project does not go ahead, we will lose out on opportunities that we have been working hard at obtaining in the last year or so.”
Of course, opinions of indigenous people are diverse, and everyone has a right to advocate their views and to assemble peacefully. But it is quite the spectacle to see NDP and Green activists outright oppose economic opportunity and security for 43 indigenous communities while seven challenge the expansion in court. These communities need us to prioritize this crisis and contribute to its resolution in any and every way we can. I look forward to the support of all the members of the committee to proceed with this motion, because action is of course long overdue.
The day it was approved, Canada's Conservatives did say that approval is one thing, but getting it built is another. Our leader's first motion in the House of Commons after he was elected called on all members to support Trans Mountain. That was on June 1, 2017. It was defeated. In February 2018 his request for an emergency debate was denied. The next week, on February 12, 2018, my motion on behalf of all Conservatives called on the Prime Minister to give Canadians a concrete plan of action and report it to the House of Commons by February 15, 2018. That motion was defeated after a full day of debate.
The warning by Kinder Morgan that it might be forced to abandon Trans Mountain is an alarming but predictable economic and now political and constitutional emergency. Today this crisis is about more than the pipeline itself. I want to spend some time talking about the real impacts of this expansion continuing to be challenged in the hope that every single member of this committee will agree that we should prioritize this assessment and undertake this motion as soon as we can.