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September 20th, 2018

NDP Wants Committee to Study Details of Pipeline Crown Corporation

OTTAWA - Daniel Blaikie, NDP Vice Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations & Estimates, will propose that the committee study possible structures and governance models for the Crown Corporation under which the government has proposed the completion of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project will proceed.

“Having a crown corporation manage and oversee the building of a pipeline raises some interesting and important questions that need to be answered,” said Blaikie. “The government has not made it clear what the structure of the corporation will be, what checks and balances will be in place or what place, if any, Indigenous peoples will have within the corporation.”

The recently established Canada Infrastructure Bank has fallen under criticism for, among other things, not being properly subject to Canada’s Access to Information laws and having high administrative costs with no significant output.

“The Trans Mountain Expansion Project has already failed in a number of important ways. That is why its original proponent walked away from it,” said Blaikie. “But if the government is determined to proceed with what many say is a mistake, then they owe it to Canadians to do it in a way that minimizes the damage to the public purse and respects the rights of Indigenous peoples.”