I should specify that this is only for the northwest coastal pipeline. The million-barrels-a-day bitumen pipeline currently being championed by the Alberta government is to the west coast. All other major oil pipelines—for instance, the Enbridge Mainline, original Trans Mountain and Keystone XL pipelines—have all been privately constructed and continue to make good money. These are companies that make good profits. The rest of the upstream sector obviously makes a lot of money from this and further contributes to the public coffers through royalties and taxes.
I should also say this, for instance: Trans Mountain may not be paying its full freight through tolls, but there would be a cost to the overall public purse if those tolls were charged because, again, the differential borne by that marginal barrel—if it were clearing on the Trans Mountain line at a deleteriously high toll—would devalue the rest of the barrels in the basin, which would then erode royalty revenues, etc.
Essentially, the argument—or at least my argument—is that it makes sense to have a subsidized, marginal west coast strategic egress cost in order to keep overall basin pricing strong so producers can continue to contribute to public coffers through royalties and taxes.