Franco Terrazzano, Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation, says Canadians are missing out on $3 million daily due to a lack of pipelines. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

taxpayers losing out

Taxpayers Federation wraps up pro-pipeline tour in Red Deer

Jun 16, 2019 | 11:15 AM

A lack of pipelines is costing Canadians around $3 million every day, or $6 billion since 2013, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

The CTF held a rally on Saturday at City Hall Park — the last stop on its nationwide tour — in a bid to show citizens why they should care about pipelines being built.

Franco Terrazzano, CTF Alberta Director, believes Canadians should be fed up that they aren’t getting full value for their oil.

“We are not talking about just one pipeline here. What we’re saying is to the federal government that we need a workable regulatory system in Canada so that we can get pipelines built,” he said.

“We’re talking about having enough pipeline capacity so that we can have that price differential lower so Canadian oil sales could receive the full price compared to the American price.”

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The tour has gone through every province since kicking off in Ottawa on May 24.

Terrazzano claims when they were outside of Alberta, residents were shocked and surprised to learn about just how much all Canadians are affected by the lack of pipelines.

“That’s billions of dollars that could be going to build more hospitals, or to hire more teachers, or to lower taxes,” he said. “Between 2013 and 2023, if we did have enough pipelines to get full value for our resources, we could bring in nearly $13 billion. We’re leaving a lot of money on the table because governments are putting up roadblocks to pipeline development.”

Terrazzano added that while environmental concerns are valid, the real question should be about whether we want to support Canadian oil, or continue purchasing from countries with questionable standards like Russia, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.

Red Deer-Mountain View MP Earl Dreeshen is skeptical that the TMX expansion will be approved on Tuesday (June 18).

“They’ll approve TMX for the third time, but I think they’re going to try and play both sides for the summer and I doubt very much if we’re going to see anything being built. We’re going to see just this frustration being mounted between Ottawa and the rest of the country,” he said.

“With C-48 and C-69, them basically saying they’re not going to accept the amendments from the premiers and business individuals, the chambers of commerce, they’ve more or less said that’s not what they’re interested in doing.”

Red Deer-South MLA Jason Stephan, who founded the Red Deer Taxpayers’ Association, said seeing the digital clock saddened him.

“These are unnecessary self-inflicted wounds that have been inflicted upon us by governments which are threatening the economic prosperity of both Albertans and Canadians as a whole,” he stated. “It’s in the public interest that our governments support resource development.”

(rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

Reg Warkentin with the Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce said at the rally that a lack of pipeline construction will be devastating for Canada’s energy industry and cripple the well-being of Alberta’s economy.

“We know that Canadian energy has the most environmentally responsible and respectable track record of any energy-producing jurisdiction in the world,” he said. “We should be incredibly proud and this should be the type of energy that anyone in the world wants to consume. It’s the best.”