Ottawa approves Trans Mountain pipeline, Line 3

You win some you lose some. The country can balance business interests with environmental concerns, let's not cut off our nose to spite our faces any longer.

Albertans will be happy, here in Ontario we will continue to fund failed businesses with grants and other taxpayer theft, instead of letting businesses risk their own investments and prove their value (such as in solar panels on homes).

Something that cannot be overlooked, is that Trudeau suggested that these pipeline will ensure that they don't just need to rely on U.S consumption. In other words, we can expect that the XL pipeline will be used as currency to try and keep NAFTA intact.

Appears he is a smarter negotiator than he thought.

Finally, a Liberal government decision that will be for the benefit of all Canadians, set in place restrictions to protect the environment and get a necessary part of our economy moving again. I applaud the government on these decisions including saying No to NG.

Finally, a Liberal government decision that will be for the benefit of all Canadians, set in place restrictions to protect the environment and get a necessary part of our economy moving again. I applaud the government on these decisions including saying No to NG.

Sorry .........double post

I am in total support of the government on these decisions. About damn time.

I have been against the NG project almost since its inception because of the involvement of Enbridge - a company who have proven to be untrustworthy when it comes to protecting the environment. I am also completely against the very idea of running a pipeline through the Great Bear Rain Forest - an issue that united many British Columbians who otherwise might have stayed on the sidelines.

I am fully in support of Line 3 and Kinder Morgan.

I was initially all for the Transmountain project until the Marathassa incident showed how poorly prepared we were for even a small spill. Real Keystone Cops response. I know Trudeau promised to upgrade spill response, but he's promised lots of things. And the costs for spill response should be borne by the oil companies, not the govt.

Truth!

And Enbridge is finally DEAD!!!!!
Tanker ban on the northern BC coast promised for spring session!!!
The Skeena and Stuart river salmon will live to see another day.

Differing from you Mowich, I grew up in Burnaby and with the Chevron refinery so although I'm not going to wave flags in support I'm aware that KM pipeline is an expansion of a line that was always there and not the ecological horror that Enbridge threatend to become.
But if you live down there, you're perfectly free and within your rights to disagree and protest. I share your concerns about increased tanker traffic and disgusted with our obsession to export raw shit so as to obtain the LEAST possible benefit from our resources.

Well done Mr. Prime Minister it's nice to see a little common sense used when weighing the potential benefits with the potential problems this pipeline might cause.

Now, for entertainment, all we have to do is wait for the radical environuts to come out of the woodwork and start chaining themselves to the trees on Burnaby mountain while their heads explode.

I think this pipeline is a good idea. I agree with Herbie that a refinery turning the bitumin into several different end products would be a MUCH better idea for Canada. The government of Canada should have made a refinery in Canada (and the jobs and tax base that go with it ) a condition for signing off on any pipeline. Oh well I guess half a loaf is better than none.

The reality is that these days there is a big difference in approving a pipeline, and a pipeline actually being built. Just look at what is going on in North Dakota. The days of big oil throwing their weight (and money) around and always getting their way is over in North America. The BP disaster turned way too many hard working men (and women) who earned their living off of the sea, or in tourist destinations on the sea against big oil. Those blue collar workers who lost everything had to listen to some whistle prick CEO from BP whine about how he wished his life could just get back to normal after the spill. Bullshit like that loses a lot of goodwill. I was down in the panhandle this last july to visit an old Air Force buddy in Ft Walton Beach. I don't recall seeing a single BP station. Not a one. They had all been replaced with Marathon stations. People tend to have long memories when they get screwed over on a grand scale like that. I am sure that this line 3 will be no bed of roses to complete either. Anyways best of luck. The hard working people of Alberta have suffered enough.

I knew the approval was coming as soon as the PM forced the carbon tax down the throats of the provinces. He thinks it gives him a social license, and in that regard as frustrating as that situation is to me, I welcome the news.

I understand others who's position is to do more with the raw product than simply export it, but lets be honest. Refining is not something most energy companies want to do, there is a massive up front cost (>$5B) to just construct them never mind the cost associated with manufacturing anything.

At least we are closer to having more than one market for our product, it would also be nice to see a pipeline heading east so that the rest of Canada would not have to import 2 million barrels a day from places like Saudi Arabia. The east is quick to denigrate oil, but seems to not mind overlooking where it's coming from. And if tankers are a huge issue for people on the west coast, then why are people in the east so oblivious to the tankers that dock there to unload crude? Seems to make much more sense to use oil from Canada than Venezuela and other banana republics that have a very spotty human rights record.

Like most things in life, money talks and if you stop buying from places like that, it's the one way to start making change. The hipocracy of it all isn't lost on me, nor the irony.

The proposal to build a refinery in Kitimat is floundering, with experts saying it's not economically feasible to export refined products. Countries want their own refineries so they can produce what they want. Sure we should be building our own refineries, instead of re-importing the stuff from the US, but Canadians don't think like that. How can we make the easiest quick buck, never mind if that's in our long term interests.