While the proposals to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline and to build the Keystone XL pipeline drag on, Vancouver lawyer, Calvin Helin, continues to work on his Eagle Spirit Energy corridor proposal. He’s convinced the project has merit and that it remains a viable option for moving energy from Alberta to the west coast.
“I’ve been working on this for the past five years,” he told me. “We’ve been able to sign a number of agreements with unions. We’ve got over thirty First Nations between Fort McMurray and Grassy Point in northern British Columbia which would be the proposed terminus of the corridor.”
“And we have now signed a memorandum of understanding with a group of landowners in Hyder, Alaska. It’s just over the border with British Columbia. It would provide us with an option if, for whatever reason, we could not bring our energy corridor to the province.”
“Within three weeks of that agreement being signed, I had inquiries from the government of Alaska expressing support for the project,” Helin added.
There is an impending roadblock to the Grassy Point terminus. It is Bill C-48, the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, which has passed the House of Commons and is now in the Senate. Helin has enlisted Alberta senator Doug Black, a proponent of west coast pipeline infrastructure, to see if that legislation can be stopped.
“The Lax Kw’Alaams First Nation is leading a constitutional challenge to head off C-48,” Helin told me. “First Nations were never consulted on this. I have a lot of experience in constitutional law and I believe the government is required by law to consult with us. We’re in the midst of a reconciliation period between the Crown and First Nations people in Canada. A lot of the First Nations who are part of Eagle Spirit are running very high unemployment rates among their people. What better way to provide opportunites for jobs and a better life than to see this project move forward?”
It remains to be seen if Eagle Spirit will soar or die. But Calvin Helin remains undaunted.
“We’ve got people working on the engineering aspects right now,” he told me. “We’re going to offer a cleaner crude oil to move through a pipeline and we know there’s a market that will be interested in that product. It might take a little longer to get this corridor in place. But we’ll keep working at it.”
Comments