The Liberal Government's $4.5 billion investment to purchase the existing TransMountain Pipeline from Kinder Morgan is a colossal waste of taxpayer's money and a huge mistake according to Banff - Airdrie Conservative MP Blake Richards. 

Richards claims we're no closer to the construction of a new pipeline than we were before the government's investment last week and the uncertainty behind the pipeline makes it very unlikely that it will get built.  

 "No one was looking for government money to try and build this pipeline. It was something the private sector was more than willing to put money into and the government put it to the point where that was no longer feasible so instead, they throw $4.5 billion of taxpayer's money into it and that doesn't do anything to actually build the pipeline.  What it does is it says 'go away Kinder Morgan' and Kinder Morgan will take that money and invest it in some other country.  We've now got taxpayer's money being used in this and I don't see any plan to actually see a pipeline get built.  Is Justin Trudeau and Bill Morneau going to go out there and roll up their sleeves and grab their shovels and start digging a trench for a pipeline because there are no private sector pipeline companies that want to come forward and build this under the conditions this government's created."  

Richards believes Kinder Morgan was willing and able to build the pipeline and all they asked for was an assurance that the project could go ahead.  The Prime Minister, he says, failed to provide that certainty and instead created an environment that is so toxic for the oil and gas industry that Kinder Morgan issued an ultimatum to the government.

Now, the government is hoping it can sell the pipeline to a private sector buyer, something that appears extremely doubtful to Richards because of that toxic environment.

"Protests, the B.C. government, all these things remain regardless of who owns the pipeline.  On top of that, you've got the uncertain regulatory processes that this government has created, you've got carbon tax that this government has added.  I don't really see any reason that a buyer would want to come forward and try to deal with all of those things, mainly government created when they can look at other options where governments are far more supportive."

Looking into his crystal ball to predict the pipeline's future, Richards says he's not sure if the pipeline will ever be built.   "It's tough to say but I don't see a scenario here.  I believe if there was a company that wanted the opportunity to build this pipeline, they would have come forward by now.  I don't see anyone, with the kinds of conditions that this government's created wanting to do that.  So I have to, unfortunately, say that I have no confidence that we'll actually see a pipeline, that we desperately, desperately need."

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