LILLEY: Michigan Governor’s reckless Line 5 crusade puts Ontario’s energy security at risk

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants a vital pipeline shut down for good, despite the damage it would inflict on Ontario, Quebec, Michigan and Ohio

Published Sep 10, 2026  •  Last updated 5 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Photo by Jim Watson /Getty Images

The Democratic governor of Michigan is looking to permanently shut down a key piece of Canadian energy infrastructure.

Enbridge’s Line 5, currently shut down after a workplace accident on Aug. 25, is facing a new push for permanent closure.

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Line 5 supplies more than half of the crude oil used in Ontario. It provides 100% of the jet fuel used at Pearson Airport and supplies oil and jet fuel for the Montreal market. The pipeline also supplies refineries in Detroit, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio and is the main source of propane for home heating in Northern Michigan.

Despite that, Governor Gretchen Whitmer wants the line shut down.

“I’ve been clear from day one. I want the existing dual Line 5 pipelines out of the Straits of Mackinac,” Whitmer said in a video posted online. “Line 5 73-year-old pipelines are a ticking time bomb in the Great Lakes.”

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Line 5 brings oil and gas products from Western Canada through Superior, Wisconsin, across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, down through the rest of the state and back into Canada at the Sarnia-Port Huron border crossing.

Originally built in 1953, environmentalists and left-wing Democrats have long opposed Line 5. Enbridge has been looking to build a concrete tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac to allay concerns about a pipeline rupture, but that’s not good enough for Whitmer and other Michigan Democrats.

In this June 8, 2017, file photo, fresh nuts, bolts and fittings are ready to be added to the east leg of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline near St. Ignace, Mich. Photo by Dale G. Young /AP

Ontario’s energy lifeline

In a letter to Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel, Whitmer outlined her opposition to the tunnel.

“Enbridge cannot use the promise of a tunnel to justify putting our most precious resources at risk by pumping oil through the Great Lakes for another decade,” she wrote. “For years, you have asked Michigan to accept the risk of the existing pipelines today in exchange for the promise of a safer tunnel tomorrow. But tomorrow never comes.”

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Of course, one of the reasons Enbridge’s plan for a tunnel is being delayed is the flurry of lawsuits trying to block it.

Last year, a federal court ruled that Michigan cannot unilaterally shut down Line 5. In July, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the approvals for the tunnel needed to be reviewed.

Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers approved the project to go ahead.

At the federal level, the Enbridge plan is fully supported by the Trump administration. The Biden administration didn’t oppose the plan the way Whitmer has, but it didn’t really support it either.

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The case for a Canadian pipeline

Shutting down Line 5 permanently, without an alternative in place, which is what Whitmer wants, would be devastating to Ontario.

Stephen Lecce, energy minister in Ontario’s Ford government, said Whitmer’s latest push proves Premier Doug Ford is right to call for a new all-Canadian pipeline.

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“This only makes the case for why Canada needs pipeline redundancy so that we are never beholden to the insanity taking hold in American, be it the Democratic governor of Michigan or the president of the United States,” Lecce said. “This is why we need to build the Northern Sheild pipeline.”

Lecce also called for Canada to establish a strategic petroleum reserve, noting we are the only G7 country without one.

No friends in Washington

In the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, his bombastic insults toward Canada and Canadian leaders, too many Canadians think Republicans are our enemies and Democrats are our friends. Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer is no friend of Ontario and no friend of Canada with this push to shutter Line 5.

Nor is she alone.

While Canadians often view Democrats as more friendly toward Canada than Republicans, American politicians of both parties tend to put local interests ahead of cross-border relationships.

At the Republican convention in Dallas on Wednesday, Democrat Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said he supported what Trump is doing for the steel industry, which includes tariffs on Canada.

The lesson for Canada is simple: Democrats and Republicans may disagree on almost everything, but when it comes to advancing American interests, they usually speak the same language. Whether it’s tariffs on steel, Buy American policies or shutting down a pipeline that fuels Ontario, Michigan and Ohio, Canada is often an afterthought.

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