Methinks Mr Higgs should pay attention to the emails he got and the phone calls his ministers and the opposition got from me today

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies



David Raymond Amos‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos @Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks if Mr Higgs had two clues between his ears he would expropriate the Potash Mine in Sussex that just got wrote off and start selling salt ASAP N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2018/11/methinks-mr-higgs-should-pay-attention.html

#nbpoli #cdnpoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/energy-east-revival-blaine-higgs-transcanada-1.4919286

Higgs's bid to revive Energy East 'virtually impossible,' says ex-pipeline exec

104 Comments 
Commenting is now closed for this story.

  

David Amos

"Higgs's position understandable"

Methinks Mr Higgs should pay attention to the emails he got and the phone calls his ministers and the opposition got from me today before the above quote is remotely true N'esy Pas?

Barry Odonnell

@David Amos Yes. I am sure they are shaking in their boots after your emails.

David Amos

@Barry Odonnell Methinks Time Will Tell the Tale N'esy Pas?

In the "Mean" time would you like some from me?

David Amos

@David Amos BTW What did you think of my lawsuit?

Wally Manza

Fact is, If the Irving family is behind this push then anything in Canada becomes possible. Very powerful family.

David Amos

@Wally Manza YUP

  

Matt Steele

It never hurts to try ; as they say " nothing ventured , nothing gained " : but Quebec would probably block the pipeline concept eventually . Quebec always wants something for nothing , and seems to have control over some N.B. politicians .

David Amos

@Matt Steele Methinks you NDP dudes should know all about that N'esy Pas?

 

Shawn Tabor

If nothing else, he is willing to try. Hats off to you Higgs for trying. Have nothing to lose. Run it along the highway as to keep a close eye on it. Easy to maintain, easy access. Do it.

Laurie Clark

@Shawn Tabor Give it a break! Higss knows full well that it will not go; he just wants the people to think he is trying to do something!

David Amos

@Shawn Tabor It has to get through Quebec first

 

Harold Wood

Did not one of the New England States say they would be willing o enter into discussions to have the line run thru their state to New Brunswick and bypass Quebec?

Ian Scott

@Harold Wood As stated it’s not just PQ in the way.

David Amos

@Ian Scott True

Methinks Trump would never allow it anyway because it would not be to the Yankee advantage for us to get a world price for our oil now that he has conned Trudeau The Younger into NAFTA 2.0 N'esy Pas?

 Paul Bourgoin

Is the pipeline New Brunswick's priority to process and export oil to foreign markets? New Brunswick has many other priorities, our Province is on the road to bankruptcy, our children are leaving to find paying jobs wow! We should manage what we have, fine tune to return to being competitive on the world market.

David Amos

@Paul Bourgoin "Is the pipeline New Brunswick's priority to process and export oil to foreign markets?"

NOPE

  

Paul Bourgoin

Tax breaks, subsidies to industry, New Brunswicker’s can't afford it. The funding available to support comes from an aging population who are losing their survival benefits such as ambulance services, hospital beds, cuts in Hospital staff, very little if any profits coming from crown land forests, laying off our forest rangers, closing our DNR offices, to sustain an economy that is drying up and our children are leaving New Brunswick for greener pastures. New Brunswick needs to rebuild our economy by properly managing what we have!

David Amos

@Paul Bourgoin Methinks if Mr Higgs had two clues between his ears he would expropriate the Potash Mine in Sussex that just got wrote off and start selling salt ASAP N'esy Pas?

  

Paul Bourgoin

Our Fish and Wildlife Populations are gone and so went the revenue that it generated. Camp leases, hunting licenses, hunting expenses represents more money and jobs annually then forestry in New Brunswick. We needs to take care of our citizens first to maintain or try to return to where New Brunswick stood economically before!

David Amos

@Paul Bourgoin I agree

 

Claudia Tannahill

When looking at this map of this pipeline it doesn't make sense to me to run it so far across the country. Why can't they just build the processing plant at the source.Saint john oil refinery is old and outdated already. Economic benefit for New Brunswick ? How? Who deals with the spills ? And no money ever has made it from the Irvings into our coffers , actually its the reverse . We pay Irving to deforest our woods , build logging roads and grow the trees they plant. How do we benefit in any way from an oil pipeline ? I'm glad this is a minority government and stupid ideas like this can be blocked.

Marguerite Deschamps

@Brian Robertson, not only in Canada but in North America! Got to give the devil his dues.

David Amos

@Marguerite Deschamps "Got to give the devil his dues."

Methinks the lady doth know the devil all too well as do I N'esy Pas?

  

Mack Leigh

Why is there not a story on the raging , rant in the NB Legislature by the newly elected Green Party MLA for Kent North ?? David C. must be so proud !!!!

David Amos

@Mack Leigh "Why is there not a story on the raging , rant in the NB Legislature by the newly elected Green Party MLA"

Methinks everyone would enjoy that circus N'esy Pas?

Joe campbell

@David Amos His supporters in Rogersville thinks he would be a great Premier

 

Marc LeBlanc

I'd rather have politicians who try and fail than those who don't

David Amos

@Marc LeBlanc Methinks that depends very much on how big they fail N'esy Pas?

  

Pete Lang

Well, it can't hurt to try...but don't forget about all the other problems that require your attention! Who knows...it may just work and put some NBers to work! We'll see! Good luck, Mr. Higgs!

David Amos

@Pete Lang Yea Right

 

Marguerite Deschamps

I see that it didn't take long for Higgs to show his true colours and where his loyalty is; the Empire, of course!

Thomas Imber

@Marguerite Deschamps He wants to create jobs and economic growth in NB so we can pay for the schools and hospitals and roads that everyone wants. Those are his true colours.

Marc Martin

@Thomas Imber

Jobs? There will be little temporary job creation for this in New Brunswick, the Irvings don't even pay taxes...So I fail to see where we will get all the gold your talking about here.

Harold Wood

@Marc Martin Irving probably the largest employer of francophones in the province or are we supposed to forget that.

David Amos

@Marc Martin Cry me a river

Marc Martin

@David Amos

Who yanked your chain again Davis ?

Rosco holt

@Harold Wood
Don't forget Irving keeps many potential employers away or puts them out of business with the governments/ lawyers help.

Marc Martin

@Rosco holt

Actually they do, they killed all small mills owners across NB.

Marguerite Deschamps

@Marc Martin, small mills and private woodlot owners!
Just like Ocran spray killed the price of cranberries, so dod Oxford the price of blueberries.
How long can these big corporations reduce us all to slaves and keep on laughing in our face? - What I am saying; they already do!

David Amos

@Marc Martin "Who yanked your chain again Davis ?"

YOU

David Amos

@Marc Martin Methinks I should ask what your lawyer thought of my lawsuit N'esy Pas?

  

Roy Kirk

This is a non-starter. The EnergyEast line was only proposed when the KXL project was bogged down with the Obama administration. Trump's decision to proceed with KXL killed the EE proposal because the shippers transferred their commitments to the KXL line. And why would TCP now facilitate the EE line to compete with its KXL line?

No, if we want an all-Canada route to Atlantic tidewater, then build an electric rail line on a great circle route to the east. It will run thru sparsely populated area, giving depth to the country, allow the bitumen to be transported undiluted, and facilitate shipment from different ports in the east. A nice big national project with lots of opportunities to cut ribbons and pose for pictures. Just what every politician wants.

And rail lines can carry more than just oil/bitumen.

David Amos

@Roy Kirk Dream on

  

Mario Doucet

Trudeau and Quebec made sure this would never happen.

David Amos

@Mario Doucet YUP

  

Gary MacKay

Even though I agree with Mr. McConachy I find many of the comments here lacking of any knowledge of the subject and disparaging for little no reason at best. Even the provincial government would save by doing some basic research to determine the numerous reasons TransCanada after spending over one billion on the project threw in the towel. The comment here by CBC that "TransCanada withdrew its application for Energy East in October 2017, blaming the NEB's decision to apply stricter greenhouse gas emission criteria to its review." is not entirely the truth or factual. The NEB changed the rules to include up and down stream impacts. They are simply a carrier of product and have no means to provide that kind of information. That is still in place. Also there is plenty of facts available with why Quebec and parts of NB did not support it and would most likely retain there positions to the determent of the rest of the country.

Colin Seeley

@Gary MacKay

“ they are simply a carrier of product and have no means to provide that kind of information “

Please expand on comment. Who is “ they “ ?

Gary MacKay

@Colin Seeley Colin they is TransCanada. They accept a product to transfer from one location to another. The extraction and how it is done and what its impact is along with the end user's impact is not something TC is privy to. In most cases it would be proprietary to the companies producing and using. Hope that helps.

David Amos

@Colin Seeley "Please expand on comment. Who is “ they “ ?"

Methinks one of the "they" could be your buddies in the Irving Clan after they bring lots of oil down here by rail they promoted Energy East bigtime as well N'esy Pas?

Gary MacKay

@David Amos David, actually there are 3 refinery's that would benefit enormously if the pipeline had been built. If you take the time to do some research you may be able to add some credible input, N'est Pas?

Colin Seeley

@Gary MacKay

Yes. Very clear. Thx

David Amos

@Gary MacKay "If you take the time to do some research you may be able to add some credible input, N'est Pas?"

Methinks you should research me first because Mr Higgs and his cohorts know I was for Energy East when I was running in the election of the 42nd Parliament much to the chagrin of the Green Party N'esy Pas?

 

Daniel Rawlins

Perhaps with the State of Montana having its foot on Keystones throat there is room for a second look at the Energy East pipeline, though I don't hold much hope for its chances. As far as Canada's petroleum resources go Atlantic Canada (the real east) has never been included in or been a part of Canada's great oil/gas wealth.

Sam Brown

@Robert Brannen

And what industry generates the much tax revenue ?

One guess......

Now you know the rest of the story

Good Day

David Amos

@Sam Brown Methinks you don't what entity puts more money into Alberta's bank account than the oil industry N'esy Pas?

  

eddy watts

Irving giving Blaine bad advice.

David Amos

@eddy watts Methinks they always do N'esy Pas?

William Reed

@eddy watts

He is just the mouth piece for Irving, as many have said all along. Count how many times he ever mentions we ought to go after these people's offshore trusts. They are a bunch of takers and they have their eyes on more taking since it can be easily hid from collective obligations they also should face. For you will be the job that will give you a thirty year mortgage to really get you in line defending the wealth capturing they are so cleverly allowing with your debt expansion.

Brian Robertson

@William Reed
Curb your anti-Irving diatribe.
It's rants like yours that motivated the creation of the offshore headquarters.

And any discussion of confiscating any portion of monies held in another sovereign jurisdiction is a non-starter.

And, as far as being a mouthpiece for the Irvings; just how much allegiance do you owe to a former employer.

You define yourself with the myopic and biased proposals you espouse.

Barry Odonnell

@eddy watts Ohh puhlease! Higgs wants to do something for your have nothing province and that is to create some...wait for it J-O-B-S!!

David Amos

@Brian Robertson "It's rants like yours that motivated the creation of the offshore headquarters."

NOPE

Barry Odonnell

@William Reed You seriously need help for your Irving obsession. I suggest you seek it. If no for Irving NB would have notta.

  

Brian Robertson

If enough political pressure is applied to the Liberals, the most likely outcome is we will end up owning two pipeline projects that will never be built.

David Amos

@Brian Robertson Methinks thou doth jest too much Even the liberals ain't that dumb N'esy Pas?

Brian Robertson

@David Amos
Oh I wouldn't underestimate the depth of the Liberal's incompetence; nor that of their anti-leader, Trudeau.

 

William Reed

How despicably arrogant can you be? Not in government a month and they are fronting the energy industry's best interests left , right and center as if they are our own best collective interests and not theirs. People don't need jobs in this sector. This sector, as it exists now, needs to be rapidly shrunk. Get people jobs doing something we need done like teaching and caring for our elderly. Money is not mined; it's circulated and jobs should address real needs. It's bad enough they are suggesting we ought to be able to run governments with lotteries, alcohol sales and legalized drugs. Burning carbon resources by way of a match or a spark is not for this age. This is the same old neoliberal economic thought shared by the liberals that reaches us now by exploiting the language divide. What a relic of old failed thinking we have in place. Make the rich richer and watch your jobs serve nothing but pay for even more higher priced assets you are in life long debt to own. This is really about making you all pay economic rent to lenders. That's why they want you to have a job. Meanwhile the proceeds of our activity land in offshore trusts if they are not speculated away in stock markets that own increasingly more assets for the richest.

David Amos

@William Reed "How despicably arrogant can you be?"

Methinks you should have heard Minister Cardy yapping on CBC this morning if you want an answer N'esy Pas?

 

Harold Benson

NB economy is about to pick up. The Alberta workers are coming home for good. They see the writing on the wall in the energy sector.

David Amos

@Harold Benson Methinks your old buddy Sam must agree with us N'esy Pas?

 

maude windsor

energy east was cut by trudeau using 'policy and truth' lying statements...because quebec did not want the pipeline.....new brunswick was hurt because of trudeau....the truth is this----quebec has many MP seats in the province (enough to give any political party a majority government)....also NB..but NB problem is lack of educated workforce...and too many educated only in french language..but these people get the welfare of government jobs. Irving would benefit from energy east...but trudeau has them taken care of by subsidizing the millions of barrels of crude carry vessles into saint john...from saudi,iran,iraq,africa where crude is extracted without environment regualations......note: if trudeau is re-elected in 2019 then the maritime provinces are done for.

David Amos

@maude windsor Methinks everybody knows that I am no fan of Trudeau The Younger However even Mr Higgs knows he not to be blamed for the failures of Energy East We should be fair N'esy Pas?

 

Harold Benson

With the Ottowashawa racket , do you even figure we are on the radar?

David Amos

@Harold Benson Methinks the fancy Yankee lawyer Craig Glidden should call me back and answer my email as well N'esy Pas?

Higgs's bid to revive Energy East 'virtually impossible,' says ex-pipeline exec

Premier sees new Ontario, Quebec governments making revival possible

Jacques Poitras · CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2018 5:00 AM AT 

Premier Blaine Higgs wants to revive Energy Energy, but a former TransCanada Corp. executive said it's a pipe dream. (James West/Canadian Press)

A former pipeline executive who worked on the proposed Energy East project says Premier Blaine Higgs's plan to revive the project is "virtually impossible."

Higgs has floated the idea of several provincial governments banding together to create a holding company that would re-submit the Energy East application to the National Energy Board, then hand it back to a private company once it's approved.

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But Dennis McConachy, who worked on the Energy East and Keystone XL projects for Calgary-based TransCanada Corp., said that's unlikely to work.


"I would think it would be virtually impossible to be taken seriously by the NEB," he said.

Many oil producers that planned to ship their product on Energy East transferred those commitments to TransCanada's Keystone XL after the Alberta-New Brunswick proposal was withdrawn.

Dennis McConachy, who worked on the Energy East and Keystone XL projects for Calgary-based TransCanada Corp., said it's unlikely the project would be taken seriously by the National Energy Board. (DOCE)

Provincial governments wanting to revive Energy East would have to find a way to re-assemble those bookings, McConachy said, to give the plan "commercial credibility."

"I would not think that's very feasible," he said.

Proof of economic feasibility required

The NEB requires companies applying to build a pipeline to provide "evidence to support economic feasibility" in order for it to assess the proposal, board spokesperson Chantal Macleod said in an email.

A provincial holding company couldn't demonstrate that unless it had producers willing to commit to using the pipeline, McConachy said. "This goes to the heart of the matter."

Energy East would have been a 4,600-kilometre pipeline to carry Alberta oil across the country to Saint John. Most of the oil would have been exported to foreign markets, though some would have been processed at the Irving Oil refinery.

TransCanada's Energy East pipeline would have moved crude from Alberta to the Atlantic. (Canadian Press)

The route to the east was conceived when Alberta oil producers were facing opposition to two other pipelines: the Keystone XL line to the United States and the Northern Gateway line to the British Columbia coast.

TransCanada withdrew its application for Energy East in October 2017, blaming the NEB's decision to apply stricter greenhouse gas emission criteria to its review.

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Some economists say the more likely reason TransCanada gave up on Energy East was a deteriorating business case for the pipeline. With Keystone XL and the Trans Mountain pipeline moving forward, oil production in Alberta didn't warrant a third export pipeline.

TransCanada's role

Higgs said his plan would relieve TransCanada from the burden of going through a long regulatory process. It also "doesn't really incur expenses as such for the government, not any significant amount."

But McConachy said that seriously underestimates the cost of filing a major regulatory application and guiding it through 21 months of hearings and consultations.

"Those are numbers in the hundreds of millions of dollars," he said.

We wouldn't stand in the way of that pipeline moving forward. We believe it's in the interest of all Canadians.- Todd Smith, Ontario's economic development minister

Another obstacle is that "you can't actually do Energy East unless you have TransCanada's concurrence to do it" because two-thirds of the pipeline would have been a conversion of the company's existing gas line, McConachy said.

TransCanada said in a statement last week it had "no plans" to revisit the proposal.

Higgs spoke about reviving the project leading up to the election campaign and now says he wants to work with other pipeline-friendly provinces to bring it back to life.

"It's trying to find a way around the roadblocks," he said. "I spent a career trying to find ways to get things done, not find a reason not to do them."

Friendly governments

He said he'll talk to Ontario and Saskatchewan about creating a holding company "that would put the application forward, the same application TransCanada put forward."

Once the NEB approved it, "then you go to the companies — could be TransCanada again, or others — and you say, 'OK, this barrier has been removed.'"

Higgs said the election of a PC government in Ontario and a business-friendly Coalition Avenir Québec government in that province makes a revival possible.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault, left, meets with Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queens Park, in Toronto on Monday. New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs sees the new provincial leaders as potential partners in an Energy East revival. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)

Ontario Economic Development Minister Todd Smith said during a visit to Fredericton last week that "we wouldn't stand in the way of that pipeline moving forward. We believe it's in the interest of all Canadians."

But he was non-committal on the idea of Ontario helping incorporate a company to push the project.

"I'm not going to tip our hand on that one just yet, but we are going to enter into some talks on all kinds of important issues," he said.

New Quebec premier Francois Legault said in 2016 he would only support the project if the province received billions of dollars in oil royalties.

Higgs's position understandable

McConachy, who retired from TransCanada in 2014 as executive vice-president of pipeline strategy and development, said he understands why Higgs is pushing Energy East.

Besides the economic benefit to New Brunswick, both Keystone XL and Trans Mountain have suffered new delays in recent months, making it difficult for Alberta to benefit from world oil prices far higher than the U.S. price.

"It's entirely understandable why a New Brunswick premier would be highly motivated to continue to explore any set of ideas that might revive the project," he said.

If Keystone XL were cancelled over legal delays in the U.S., Energy East might start to look possible again, he added, but it will still have to overcome political opposition in Quebec, Indigenous opposition and other obstacles.

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