No Mention of Pipelines on Trudeau’s Mandate For Natural Resources Minister

Justin Trudeau’s mandate letter to Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s Natural Resources Minister, is full of instructions on how to transition the country’s economy to zero emissions. Beyond the directives to cap emissions and phase out public financing, there are no direct references to the country’s oil and gas sector.

As detailed in the directive, the Liberal government’s green priorities include everything from installing net-zero electricity grids by 2035 to installing more than 50,000 new charging stations for electric vehicles and hydrogen fuelling stations in urban areas.

Canada is the fourth-largest oil and natural gas producer in the world. With an increase of 5.8 million barrels per day expected in 2032, Canada’s Energy Regulator found that oil production will start declining by the end of the century.

Even though the oil and gas industry receives minimal attention, this is no surprise given the ongoing difficulties it faces with pipelines and exports to foreign markets.

Legal and political battles have raged for years between Enbridge Energy (ENB.TO) and Michigan state officials over a pipeline that runs beneath a channel connecting two of the Great Lakes. TC Energy (TRP.TO)(TRP) is suing the U.S. government for the cancellation of the cross-border Keystone XL expansion project by U.S. President Joe Biden when he came into office in January.

Trudeau’s Jan. 15 mandate letter to Seamus O’Regan, Wilkinson’s predecessor on the natural resources file, referenced a need to “seize market opportunities to create good jobs.” However, this appears to be a reference to climate change adaptation.

Minister O’Regan was instructed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on his Dec. 13, 2019 letter, to “identify opportunities to support workers and businesses in the natural resource sectors that are seeking to export their goods to global markets,” he wrote. “This includes working to construct and complete the twinning of the Trans Mountain Pipeline.”

Original source material for this article taken from here