ADVERTISEMENT

Morneau Signals Canada Open to Buying Trans Mountain Stake

Morneau Signals Canada Open to Buying Trans Mountain Stake

(Bloomberg) -- Canada will consider using all of its tools for seeing the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion through to completion, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said, indicating the federal government wouldn’t rule out taking a stake in the project.

The government has spoken with Kinder Morgan Inc. since it said on Sunday that it’s halting most work on the pipeline amid opposition from British Columbia, Morneau said. The government isn’t ruling out any option -- legal, regulatory or financial -- because the project is vital to attracting investment to Canada, he told reporters in Toronto in a response to questions about a potential stake purchase.

“We know that showing that Canada is a place where important projects can get done, showing Canada is a place where you can make business investments that actually help our economy -- that’s critically important,” Morneau said after a meeting with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley to discuss responses to Kinder Morgan’s announcement.

Morneau’s comments came after Notley said on Tuesday that Alberta would be willing to buy out Trans Mountain if that’s the only way to salvage the critical export route.

To contact the reporters on this story: Allison McNeely in Toronto at amcneely@bloomberg.net, Kevin Orland in Calgary at korland@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net, Carlos Caminada

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.