Mr. Speaker, a bit like my colleague, I too am wondering about the need to hold an emergency debate tonight regarding a decision made by an independent company.
To explain my point a little further, I would like to talk about a mine project. I would like to tell the story of a mine project dedicated to producing 100,000 barrels of oil a day. This mine is located 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. It is not the mine we are talking about today. It is a mine project that was cancelled in early 2014, when the price of oil first began to plummet. The production costs of that mine were estimated to be $11 billion. It became clear that the mine was going to become increasingly costly to run, because the production costs were increasing and the price of oil was dropping. The mine I am talking about is Joslyn North, which was cancelled in 2014, under the Conservatives.
This leads me to wonder whether the Liberals are entirely to blame for everything happening right now. I will come back to the Liberals later. I will not forget them.
However, this does raise the point that the Conservatives may be creating a tempest in a teapot by going off in all directions, possibly in the hope of promoting their political interests. I do not know, nor do I claim to know, all of their beliefs or their objective in this. However, it seems to me that, when we look at this issue from a factual perspective, there are similarities between the two projects. The Teck Frontier project was a mine located 110 kilometres north of Fort McMurray that would have produced 260,000 barrels of oil. There seem to be similarities. The context is pretty much the same, with the drop in the price of oil and the increase in production costs. Don Lindsay mentioned that this context is what led to the project being abandoned.
It seems to me that the Conservatives are, unfortunately, trying to paint the Liberals in a greener light than they deserve.
It is true that Alberta is currently facing its share of challenges and setbacks. Alberta has gotten a lot of bad news recently. Unfortunately, this evening, rather than finding constructive solutions to Alberta's long-term problems, the Conservatives are needlessly fanning the flames of Albertans' anger. This evening's debate will not bring back the Teck Frontier mining project, whether they want that or not, and I for one do not.
What is happening right now is that the Conservatives are oil junkies. They refuse to face the truth. Unfortunately for them, this is no longer the time of Ralph Klein's infamous prosperity cheques. Alberta is no longer swimming in money from oil royalties. The percentage of revenue generated from oil development in Alberta has been falling since the 1980s and reached a record low of 6% in 2009.
Unfortunately, after seeing the writing on the wall, instead of following Norway's lead and using the additional money to overhaul its tax system and create a fund to facilitate a green transition, Alberta said, “Drill, baby, drill”. Instead of anticipating an inevitable problem and reviewing its tax system, Alberta tried to keep swimming in oil royalties by telling itself that it would just produce more oil to make more money, kind of like a junkie who slowly gets used to a harmful drug and needs more and more to satisfy their needs.
The problem is that the Liberals also shoulder some of the blame. The Liberals did not help Alberta with its addiction. Instead of helping Alberta get out of the oil and gas business and contribute to a real green transition, the Liberals contributed to its addiction, especially with the Trans Mountain project.
Donald Lindsay of Teck Resources mentioned three conditions that were essential for the operation of the Frontier mine project. There had to be a fairly high price per barrel, which the government has no control over. There had to be investor participation, which the government has no control over anymore. However, the last condition for moving forward with the Frontier mine project was the construction of a new pipeline.
I find it odd that the Conservatives are accusing the Liberals of undermining the Frontier mine project when they contributed to one of the conditions for the project. It seems to me that they are speaking out of both sides of their mouth.
The government was responsible for the pipeline construction. It contributed to Alberta's dependence on oil. In 2017, 13 companies reserved an apportionment on the future Trans Mountain pipeline, which was supposed to transport 22,000 barrels a day. Teck Resources was one of the companies that reserved a pipeline apportionment. These agreements lasted 15 to 20 years. The government indirectly helped the Frontier mine project.
I find it sad that the Frontier mine project became an argument in favour of Trans Mountain, much like Trans Mountain became an argument for the implementation of Teck Frontier.
This may bring back some memories for some of the more seasoned members in the House who remember the popular Hygrade sausage ad that said, “More people eat them because they're fresher. They're fresher because more people eat them.” That perfectly describes the interdependence of Teck Frontier and Trans Mountain. The problem is that this massive sausage machine ultimately does nothing but force-feed us high meat.
In conclusion, I am happy for future generations that the Frontier mine project has been abandoned. The transition to green energy is inevitable and necessary. The problem is that the decision to abandon the project was not made by the government, and certainly not by the Conservatives.
I will take good news wherever I can get it. I hope that next time we will be the ones deciding not to move forward with this kind of project.