Sunny Ways – Meet Tough Choices
– Momentum Public Relations –
Sunny Ways. Newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau loves to communicate using language that fosters little disagreement. Who doesn’t want sunshine and happiness? In politics, at some point, there is a need to set aside the happy talk and make tough choices. Tough choices can include disappointing some people to do the right thing. Tough choices require being prepared to abandon small thinking so that bigger goals can be achieved. If a country wants to be a real country, then it can’t behave like a collection of small fiefdoms. Canada has some tough choices to make. These choices will identify if Canada wants to act for the benefit of the whole country or if it is content to behave like a big family where every child can get what they want the way they want it.
Energy East, the proposal by TransCanada Pipelines is precisely the sort of issue that provides Canada with an opportunity to make tough choices and behave like a country. It is a project that has an overall national economic benefit. It can be completed with little impact on the environment. It is far less risky than transporting trainloads of oil through the center of densely populated cities and towns. The proposed 4,600-kilometre pipeline will stretch from central Alberta to a terminal in New Brunswick and could carry slightly more than one million barrels of crude oil per day. The current proposal calls for an existing natural gas pipeline to be converted to allow for oil transportation, and it includes some new pipelines in a few areas to complete the route. It will provide Canada with the ability to supply western oil to eastern markets and, additionally, bring its oil to the world market.
Mr. Trudeau has argued that the role of the Canadian Prime Minister is to avoid the trap of becoming a “cheerleader for pipelines” but to ensure that an effective process for reviewing proposals is followed. This is easier said than done. Therefore, this file may prove to be the first serious test for the honeymoon period that the Mr. Trudeau is enjoying with Canadians.
On January 26, 2016, Mr. Trudeau held a meeting in Montreal with Mr. Denis Coderre, the mayor of Montreal. The stated purpose of the meeting was to have a discussion about the proposed pipeline. The underlying purpose, however, was to ensure that the mounting opposition in Quebec did not continue to grow and to ask the mayor of Montreal to moderate the tone of the comments that he had been making as the spokesman for 82 Quebec municipalities that oppose the pipeline proposal.
Based on the post-meeting news conference, it would appear that rational thought, or good political skills, prevailed. Both politicians are reasonably astute at reading the public mood. Both understand the need avoid taking extreme positions. Neither man is inclined towards political suicide. Furthermore, the mayor of Montreal and the Prime Minister of Canada are political allies, so they probably agreed, behind closed doors, that it was unwise for either of them to paint the other one into a corner. Given that they are both staunch federalists, they also likely agreed that any public rancor between them plays directly into the hands of PQ leader Pierre Karl Peladeau and would provide the somewhat dormant separatist issue with a rallying cry. This is something that neither of them is keen to do, preferring to avoid giving Mr. Peladeau an issue that could allow him to claim that Quebec is being marginalized.
In their discussion on Tuesday, it is likely that Mr. Trudeau underlined his belief that business propositions, like pipelines, are subject to due process and a comprehensive environmental assessment. It is also likely that Mr. Coderre shared that Quebec municipalities are questioning some elements of the approval process. He also may have repeated comments made by Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard that, without a terminal in Quebec, there appears to be no way to assess the economic impact of the proposed project for the province. Furthermore, there was certainly some discussion of how to address some of the shrill concerns that are being raised by environmental groups, many of whom are opposed to anything that involves fossil fuel extraction, transportation or marketing.
What did this meeting accomplish? It may have bought some time for TransCanada Pipelines to fine-tune their proposal. The company may have underestimated the importance of engaging all potential stakeholders. They need to recognize the changing perceptions of the public and the shift that is happening in the political landscape. It may have also bought some time for Mr. Trudeau to make a few adjustments to the overall approval process. He has been stridently critical of the way these projects were reviewed in the past. Now he has the opportunity to do something about it. Finally, it bought some time for some behind the scenes discussions with a variety of municipal and provincial politicians that will allow the rhetoric to be dialed down and good sense to prevail.
Any project of this scope needs to be thoroughly assessed. A full understanding of the environmental impact must be considered. The business metrics must also be evaluated in the light of an understanding of the changing worldwide market for petroleum products. In the end, however, countries are built when the interests of the whole matter more than the preferences of regions or special interest groups.
What tough choices will Canada make? Let’s hope they are the right ones. If they are, we will likely continue to enjoy “Sunny Ways”.