Manitoba premier says he is ‘open to’ Alberta-Ontario oil pipeline proposal

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew told reporters in Charlottetown at the Canadian premiers meeting that he "open" to the Alberta-Ontario oil pipeline proposal. (Photo credit: Stu Neatby/Postmedia) The Guardian

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CHARLOTTETOWN — Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says he is willing to consider backing the west-to-east pipeline proposal announced by fellow premiers Alberta’s Danielle Smith and Ontario’s Doug Ford in early July that would cut through his province.

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The proposed route would run across southern Manitoba, passing through the areas of Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg, and onward to Ontario.

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“I’m open to it,” Kinew told reporters Wednesday at the Canadian premiers conference in Charlottetown. “Having spent a few days in Portage la Prairie, Man. last week, I can tell you, there’s probably a lot of people who (would) like to work on a pipeline.”

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“So, I’m open to it, and it’s going to make Canada stronger. But of course, we want to see things done in the right way. We want Indigenous governments on side. We want workers taken care of. We want the environmental concerns all with that. So, you know, those will be the conversations.”

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Smith and Ford appeared together in Calgary on July 6 to announce the new Northern Shield Energy Corridor proposal that would include a 3,300-kilometre oil pipeline running from Hardisty, Alta., to refineries in Sarnia, Ont., with a capacity of 500,000 to 800,000 barrels a day. The proposal also included creating an east-to-west transport corridor to ship critical minerals from Ontario to the Prairies and B.C.

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“If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s (that) we need to take action now to protect Canadian jobs and Canadian families,” Ford said at the time. Ontario is conducting a cost estimate that will be ready by the end of the year, he said.

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Kinew added that his involvement with the project would involve speaking with “indigenous leaders in Manitoba” as well as “average Manitobans.”

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At present, refineries in southern Ontario process an average of 386,000 barrels of oil per day, with the bulk of the oil originating in Alberta. However, it must pass through the U.S. before reaching Ontario.

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