Pipelines: friend, foe, or somewhere in between?

But just how familiar is the average Canadian with pipelines? And more importantly, what are the facts?

First, a brief history. Perhaps to the surprise of many (myself included), pipelines have been used to transport fossil fuels in Canada since the 1850’s. The first Canadian pipeline was built in 1853 to transport crude oil to Trois Rivieres, Quebec and it was the longest pipeline in the world at that time at 25 kilometers. However, it was not until the late 1940’s when pipeline use really took off, when Leduc, Alberta began developing vast reserves of crude oil and natural gas. Today there are more than 840,000 kilometers of pipelines in Canada, with most provinces having significant pipeline infrastructure in place.

To say that the history of the Canadian pipeline industry is complicated would be an understatement. There was the widely debated Keystone XL pipeline which would have run from Alberta to Nebraska (Canadian regulators approved the project in 2010 but it was ultimately rejected by then-US President Barack Obama). Some will also recall the dismissal of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline in 2016, or the federal government’s $4.5 billion purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline in 2018. In February 2020, country-wide protests against the Coastal Gaslink pipeline in Northern BC garnered considerable media attention.

It’s clear that there is a lot of controversy around pipelines in this country. So, why all the hubbub?

For starters, it should be noted that these are highly complex issues, and each situation possesses its own unique set of facts. With that said, the majority of pipeline-related issues in Canada tend to fall into one (or more) of three broad areas – environmental impact, economic impact, and land and title rights.

According to the federal government, pipelines are a safe, reliable, and environmentally friendly way of transporting oil and gas, with an average of 99.999% of oil transported on federally regulated pipelines moving safely each year. It also says that, of the approximately 1.3 billion barrels of oil transported in Canadian pipelines each year, about 1,084 barrels were spilled per year between 2011 and 2014. 

Kenneth P. Green, an environmental scientist and Senior Fellow at the conservative-leaning Fraser Institute, says that pipeline accidents are “unfortunate and regrettable,” but after conducting a lengthy study, concludes that “pipelines are without a doubt the safest way to transport oil and gas.”

Others, however, like former Green Party leader Elizabeth May, have been critical of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in particular, saying that it directly belies Canada’s climate action goals. May has referenced a report by the Royal Society of Canada, a group of academics which assesses societal best practices, which suggests a lack of knowledge around the ability to clean up spills in certain environments.

Regarding the issue of land and title rights, Canada has a contentious history of disputes between First Nations, and provincial and federal governments. Most people will likely be familiar with the term ‘unceded lands,’ which refers to land which was never signed away by the Indigenous people who lived there before Europeans settled in North America. The Constitution Act recognizes and affirms Indigenous rights as ‘rights related to the historical occupancy and use of the land by Indigenous peoples.’ Over the years, there have been many cases related to Indigenous title rights before the courts, and many of them involve pipelines.

There are also situations in which First Nations disagree with each other over territorial rights. We need only look back to the February 2020 protests as an example involving hereditary chiefs and elected band council chiefs from the Wet’suwet’en Nation in Northern BC. The head chiefs opposed the building of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline, which is set to carry natural gas through a section of unceded Wet’suwet’en territory. The elected band councils within the Wet’suwet’en Nation, on the other hand, supported the project. The Hereditary chiefs have asserted that they had responsibility over the 22,000 square kilometres of unceded territory.

Now then, as the title of the article asks, are pipelines a friend, foe, or somewhere in between? It most certainly depends on who you ask! In my limited and humble view, pipelines fall somewhere in between, in that they offer a means of energy transportation preferable to other methods, such as tankers or rail. With that said, I believe we should focus our efforts on more sustainable (and renewable) energy sources, such as wind and solar, with an aggressive, yet realistic approach. In doing so, hopefully we can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and pipelines.