Guilbeault throws cold water on new pipeline, says we have enough already

OTTAWA — Minister of Canadian Identity Steven Guilbeault said Wednesday that Ottawa’s stalled progress on oil and gas pipelines isn’t a threat to national unity because demand for pipelines is petering out on its own.

“The Canadian energy regulator, as well as the International Energy Agency, are telling us that probably by 2028, 2029, demand for oil will peak globally and it will also peak in Canada,” Guilbeault told reporters in Ottawa, when asked about whether pipelines will continue to be a source of friction between Alberta and the federal government.

Estimates of when global demand for oil will peak vary widely, from later in the 2020s to after 2050.

“So… before we start talking about building an entirely new pipeline, maybe we should maximize the use of existing infrastructure,” said Guilbeault.

• Conservative MP says Carney should appoint a labour minister and pay more than 'lip service' to workers
• Minister says he won't 'sling mud' after Poilievre called him the 'master at failing upward'

Guilbeault claimed that the Liberal government-bankrolled Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX) was currently operating at “about 40 per cent capacity,” a figure that was quickly disputed by energy analysts online .

TMX’s total utilization for the last eight months of 2024 was 77 per cent of capacity , according to company documents.

Kent Fellows, an economist at the University of Calgary, said that running pipelines at full capacity shouldn’t be an objective for policymakers.

“There’s no reason to desire any Canadian pipeline run at 100 per cent capacity all the time. A pipeline that is consistently full is like a road that is consistently gridlocked,” said Fellows.

“Minister Guilbeault’s characterization of the current system misrepresents … the economic value of excess capacity that allows for optionality.”

Guilbeault’s comments were also panned by Joseph Mancinelli, Canadian Director of the Labourers International Union of North America (LiUNA).

“It is a shame to see (Guilbeault) remain in cabinet with the same old rhetoric that is counterproductive, especially at a time where Canada must show strong leadership and invest in our energy potential,” wrote Mancinelli on social media.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Tuesday that she was disappointed by the inclusion of both Guilbeault and his former undersecretary Julie Debrusin in the Liberals’ post-election cabinet, calling both “anti-oil and gas.”

Guilbeault, a longtime environmental activist, spent more than three years as environment minister before being reassigned in March.

He’s often been a lightning rod for Albertan frustrations over Liberal net-zero policies targeting the province’s oil and gas sector.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, Guilbeault’s boss, said in an interview Tuesday that he’s willing to green light a new oil and gas pipeline if an interprovincial consensus exists for one.

He also said that he’s willing to make changes to key Liberal climate policies, such as Bill C-69 and the federal emissions cap, to get the ball rolling on oil and gas development.

Carney has promised to make Canada a clean and conventional energy superpower.

Newly minted Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said Wednesday that he was excited to start working toward this objective.

“We look forward to building, and I look forward to digging in,” Hodgson told reporters in Ottawa on his way to a cabinet meeting.

Hodgson said he’d be travelling to Western Canada “very soon.”

National Post

rmohamed@postmedia.com

Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here.

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.