In announcing the government's decision to acquire the Trans Mountain pipeline and its planned expansion from Kinder Morgan this week, Justin Trudeau rallied a spirited defence in Question Period on Wednesday. To the NDP, he reminded them how they once applauded Alberta premier Rachel Notley's climate plan which included a hard cap on emissions, a carbon price, and a new pipeline; and to the Conservatives, Trudeau invoked the ghost of former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed, the province's first Progressive Conservative premier.
"Progressive Conservative leaders like Peter Lougheed understood that public investment in our resource sector was important to get our resources built and to markets," Trudeau said in response to Andrew Scheer's questions. "For 10 years, the Conservatives tried, and failed, to get our resources to markets other than the U.S. We are standing up for Alberta and Canadian jobs."
Now, the Conservatives didn't appreciate that at all, and MP Ron Liepert in particular took umbrage when Trudeau dismissed the suggestion that any of Lougheed's nationalization had to do with his father's National Energy Program, and in Thursday's QP, Liepert insisted that Lougheed never nationalized a pipeline. Which may technically be true but he certainly wasn't afraid to nationalize things when he felt it was necessary.
I reached out to Independent Senator Elaine McCoy to get her perspective, as she is someone who knew Lougheed best. She campaigned with him while he was premier, and later, she succeeded him in the Alberta legislature by running for his seat at his urging when he retired, and she went on to serve in Cabinet in the Getty government. She also ran to replace Getty as leader of the party but lost to Ralph Klein.
And what did McCoy think about Trudeau making the comparison to Lougheed?
"He's right to point out that it doesn't matter what party you belong to, it matters whether you believe strongly enough in your country or your province to do what is necessary to secure the future for the people," McCoy said.
And to that end, McCoy believes that Trudeau made the right decision in agreeing to buy the pipeline (which I should remind everyone will only happen if another buyer can't be found before August, which may still happen).
But she did point out that Lougheed nationalized other companies, including Pacific Western Airlines, which the Lougheed government acquired in 1974 when it was facing troubles.
"There were all sorts of accusations of him behaving like an NDP government, but he said it protects Alberta's interests," recalled McCoy. "So he went ahead and did it."
The Alberta government later privatized PWA in 1983, where it eventually became Canadian Pacific Airlines, and was taken over by Air Canada in 2001.
McCoy also points to the Alberta Gas Trunk Line, a government-owned natural gas pipeline which started in 1954, but which Lougheed's government used to encourage the growth of the petrochemical industry in the province by having straddle plants along the pipeline route extract ethane and deliver it to the ethylene plant in Joffre, Alberta, starting in 1979. AGTL later became NOVA pipelines, which joined TransCanada Pipelines, and the petrochemical branch split off as NOVA chemicals, which is still operates today.
Lougheed also started the Crown corporation AOSTRA (Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority) to promote the development and use of new technology to extract heavy crude from the oil sands yet another example of government assistance in the oil and gas industry that Andrew Scheer seems to forget ever happened.
Other examples of Lougheed's not being afraid to invest government dollars included rail cars.
"When the railroads said they didn't have enough grain cars to get to market, he said bugger this and went and bought god knows how many," says McCoy. "You can still see them. He was a great activist that way."
McCoy notes that not every investment worked out, particularly given the financial crises of the 1980s, but that Lougheed was more concerned with people over accounting. One notable instance of that ethos was the plan to help struggling Albertans with mortgage payments at a time when there were eighteen percent interest rates during the recession that followed the collapse of world oil prices.
"What did Peter do? He brought in two Acts, one of which was the Alberta Home Mortgage Guarantee Act," said McCoy. "He said we've got to keep these people in their homes. This too will pass."
McCoy notes that she sees similarities today to what she saw back then.
"Rachel Notley is doing exactly what Peter Lougheed would have done," McCoy said. "He would have looked at it and said I will choose people every time over accounting rules; I will make sure that people don't starve."
To that end, it seems clear that Trudeau is acting in the same vein that Lougheed would have, ensuring that a project deemed to be in the national interest can proceed in spite of the roadblocks being thrown up by one level of government. Much of the commentary from credible economists has been that while this planned purchase is not ideal, it's not unsound because there are tangible assets attached to it, and reliable revenues attached to the expansion once it is completed. It's likely that it will find a buyer at some point, whether it's before or after construction starts that is really the question, and the government has already offered assistance through Export Development Canada to ensure that Kinder Morgan has the resources to get the work started as soon as possible.
But will these Conservatives care enough that Trudeau is making the comparison? In the end, probably not as much as you might think given that there is virtually nothing left of the old Progressive Conservatives left in the party, and that it is now a haven for right-flavoured populists who don't care about market-based solutions for problems. Nevertheless, the fact that Trudeau has staked this much political capital to help Alberta may change a few hearts and minds in the province, where the memories of Lougheed are a little stronger.
