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Freedom Pipeline

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Freedom Pipeline
Open Letter to Canadians
 
February 16, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Red Deer – Mountain View, AB
 
Hours after being sworn into office on January 20, 2021, U.S. President Biden signed an executive order to revoke the presidential permit, thus cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline expansion project.
 
Thousands of direct jobs on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border were immediately lost. While this is disappointing to many Albertans, it does not come as a surprise as the Obama administration, which Biden was vice-president in, took a similar stance.
 
Prior to cancellation, TC Energy committed to operate the pipeline with net zero emissions when it was placed into service in 2023. Although Keystone XL is cancelled, the demand for oil will continue. Instead of shipping oil via a zero emissions pipeline, alternatives such as truck and rail will be required. This results in higher emissions and increased safety concerns.
 
From recent polling data, there is very little support from Canadians to see the federal government engage with the Biden administration in an attempt to have the permit re-instated. The Alberta government and other supporters of the pipeline have called for retaliatory measures and sanctions against the United States in an effort to restart the permit negotiation process. Unfortunately, these calls will fall on deaf ears. Additionally, the sanctions that could be brought against the United States would likely have little impact or only serve to make the situation worse. It is evident that the current Liberal government will not be taking further action on this file based on their initial comments on the decision and their overall ideological stance regarding the Western Canadian energy industry.
 
As nations around the world shift to stronger nationalist positions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada too must look out for its own interests. We must stop relying on other countries in matters of national importance. Energy independence is a decision of national importance.
 
The United States will continue to be a major trading partner for Canada but we must take steps to become more self-reliant. This starts with understanding the regulatory and social environment that Alberta’s oil and gas industry currently operates in.
 
Bill C-69 (no more pipelines) and Bill C-48 (tanker ban) enacted by the current Liberal government have created a poor investment climate in the oil and gas industry. The cancellation of Energy East and Enbridge Northern Gateway were both tied to these Bills. Critics will state that neither project was economically viable. This however is false. Global oil demand continues to remain strong, and has rebounded quickly after a significant decline due to wide scale shutdowns due to COVID-19.
 
Energy infrastructure projects that cross provincial borders are subject to regulatory review by the Canada Energy Regulator. This process is time consuming and overbearing. Given the current regulatory environment, Canadians (specifically Western Canadians) have two options. Continue to complain about said regulatory environment or think outside of the box to develop a new solution to get our most important resource to market. This is where “Freedom Pipeline” comes into play.
 
Pipeline infrastructure currently exists to move Western Canadian oil from Fort McMurray, Alberta to Cromer, Manitoba. The “Freedom Pipeline” would build on this existing infrastructure and move oil from Cromer to Churchill, Manitoba. As this leg of the pipeline would be completed within Manitoba’s borders, it would not be subject the Canada Energy Regulator (CER). This is supported by the July 26, 2019 decision by the National Energy Board (now CER) in relation to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline in British Columbia.
 
In order to proceed with this pipeline, the National Coalition of Chiefs should be immediately consulted so as to maximize the opportunities for First Nations communities throughout Manitoba. This should include discussions around the inclusion of First Nations owned businesses in the construction of the pipeline as well as an ownership stake in order to defeat on-reserve poverty.
 
Modern technology should be used to construct, protect and operate the pipeline. These include:
  1. Pipeline leak detection and containment system.
  2. Equipping oil tankers, moving through the Hudson Bay, with double-hull tanks and with Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) for propulsion.
  3. Commitment to operate the pipeline with renewable resources within a reasonable timeline and when economically viable.
In addition to providing good paying jobs to First Nations communities along the pipeline route and to Western Canadian oilfield workers, this pipeline will bring significant benefits to other Canadians. Jobs within Ontario’s steel industry would be created. Refinery positions would be created on Canada’s east coast, a region that is desperately in need of private sector investment and growth. Engineering and other professional service positions would be created as well. All of these jobs provide the dignity of work to the individuals who secure them and hope for a brighter future for their children.
 
What happens if the Liberal government enacts legislation to ban tanker traffic in the Hudson Bay and ultimately the route to refineries on the east coast? If this were to occur, Western provinces would immediately need to make a decision about their ongoing position in Confederation. If a tanker ban was enacted, Western provinces should exercise all available actions to secure autonomy. This would include exploring provincial pensions and referendums on equalization payments. The next step would be to explore options for separation.
 
Western provinces cannot continually be expected to be a part of a Confederation that doesn’t allow their industries to get products to market, families to provide for their children and communities to support the vulnerable.
 
The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged our economy. Governments have spent hundreds of billions in response. We are faced with difficult decisions on how to secure our future. The “Freedom Pipeline” provides a quality option to secure paycheques for thousands of Canadians and bring hope back to our great country. It’s time to get to work.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jared Pilon
Libertarian Party Candidate for Red Deer – Mountain View, AB
 

I have recently made the decision to seek nomination as a candidate in the federal electoral district of Red Deer - Mountain View. As a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), I directly see the negative impacts of government policy on business owners and most notably, their families. This has never been more evident than in 2020. Through a common sense focus and a passion for bringing people together on common ground, I will work to help bring prosperity to the riding of Red Deer – Mountain View and Canada. I am hoping to be able to share my election campaign with your viewers/readers. Feel free to touch base with me at the email listed below or at jaredpilon.com. Thanks.

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Addictions

Alberta closing Red Deer’s only overdose prevention site in favor of recovery model

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Alberta’s Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, Dan Williams, at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on Sept. 11 2024. [Photo credit: Alexandra Keeler]

By Alexandra Keeler

Alberta’s Minister of Mental Health and Addiction explains the shift from overdose prevention to recovery amid community concerns

On Sept. 23, Alberta announced the city of Red Deer would be closing the community’s only overdose prevention site by spring 2025. The closure will mark the first time an Alberta community completely eliminates its supervised consumption services.

The decision to close the site was taken by the city — not the province. But it aligns with Alberta’s decision to prioritize recovery-focused approaches to addiction and mental health over harm-reduction strategies.

“The whole idea of the Alberta Recovery Model is that unless you create off-ramps [from] addiction, you’re barreling ahead towards a brick wall, and that’s going to be devastating,” Alberta Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Dan Williams told Canadian Affairs in an interview in September.

However, the closure — which parallels similar moves by other provinces — has sparked debate over whether recovery-oriented models adequately meet the needs of at-risk populations.

The Alberta Recovery Model

The Alberta Recovery Model, which was first introduced by Alberta’s UCP government in November 2023, emphasizes prevention, early intervention, treatment and recovery.

It is informed by recommendations from Alberta’s Mental Health and Addiction Advisory Council and research from the Stanford Lancet Commission on the North American Opioid Crisis.

“Alberta, in our continuum of care, has everything from low entry, low barriers, and zero cost [for] detox, to treatment, to virtual opioid dependency, to outreach teams working with shelters,” said Williams.

Williams said that Alberta intends to continue funding safe consumption sites as short-term harm-reduction measures. But it views them as temporary components in the continuum of care.

This is not without controversy.

At the Feb. 15 Red Deer council meeting where councillors voted 5-2 to close the city’s safe consumption site, some councillors noted that safe consumption sites play an essential role in the continuum of care.

“Each individual is at a different stage of addiction … the overdose prevention site does play a role in the treatment spectrum,” said Coun. Dianne Wyntjes, who voted against the closure.

While Red Deer is home to Alberta’s first provincially funded addiction treatment facility, Wyntjes noted there had been reports within the community of the facility lacking capacity to meet demand.

She pointed to Lethbridge’s experience in 2020, where overdose deaths spiked after its consumption site was replaced with mobile services.

The Ontario government’s recent decision to close 10 safe consumption sites located near schools and daycares has prompted similar concerns.

In August, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones told reporters that the province plans to “very quickly” replace the closed sites with Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs that prioritize community safety, treatment and recovery. But critics — including site workers, NDP MPPs and harm-reduction advocates — have warned these shutdowns will lead to an increase in fatal overdoses.

It is possible that Alberta, Ontario and other jurisdictions will make other moves in tandem in the coming months and years.

In April, Alberta announced it was partnering with Ontario and Saskatchewan to build recovery-focused care systems. The partnerships include sharing of best practices and advocating for recovery-focused policies and investments at the federal level.

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‘Mandatory treatment’

Another controversial component of Alberta — and other provinces’ —  recovery-oriented strategy is involuntary care.

The UCP government has said it plans to introduce “compassionate intervention” legislation next year that will enable family members, doctors or police officers to seek court orders mandating treatment for individuals with substance use disorders who pose a risk to themselves or others.

“If someone is a danger to themselves or others in the most extreme circumstances because of their addiction, then we as a society have an obligation to intervene, and that might include mandatory treatment,” said Williams.

Critics have raised concerns about increasing reliance on involuntary care options.

“Over the last two decades, there has been a dramatic increase in reliance on involuntary services [such as psychiatric admissions and treatment orders], while voluntary services have not kept up with demand,” the B.C. division of the Canadian Mental Health Association said in a Sept. 18 statement published on their website.

The statement followed an announcement by B.C. Premier David Eby — who was recently reelected — to expand involuntary care in that province.

Research from Yale University’s School of Public Health indicates involuntary interventions for substance use are generally no more effective than voluntary treatment, and can in some cases cause more harm than good. The research notes that “involuntary centers often serve as venues for abuse.”

A 2023 McMaster University study that synthesized the research on involuntary treatment from international jurisdictions similarly found inconclusive outcomes. It recommended expanding voluntary care options to minimize reliance on involuntary measures.

Williams emphasized that the province’s involuntary care legislation would target “a very small group of people for whom all else has failed … those at the far end of the addiction spectrum with very serious and devastating addictions.”

‘Off-ramps from addiction’

Over the past six years, Alberta has incrementally increased its mental health and addiction budget from an initial $50 million to a cumulative total of $1.5 billion.

The funding boost has enabled Alberta to eliminate a $40 daily user fee for some detox and recovery services, add 10,000 publicly funded addiction treatment spaces, and expand access to its Virtual Opioid Dependency Program, which offers same-day access to life-saving medications.

To support addiction prevention, Williams said Alberta is expanding CASA Classrooms in schools. These offer mental health support and therapy to Grade 4-12 students who have ongoing mental health challenges, and equip school staff and caregivers to support these students.

“Mental health and addiction needs to be as connected to the emergency room as it is to the classroom,” Williams said. “We need to be able to understand low-acuity chronic mental health challenges as they begin to manifest [in the community].”

The province is also in the process of establishing 11 residential recovery communities across the province. These centres provide free, extended treatment averaging four months — which is longer than most recovery programs.

Oct. 23 marked the one-year anniversary of one such centre, the Lethbridge Recovery Community. The $19-million, 50-bed facility served more than 110 clients in its first year and expects to serve about 200 individuals in 2025.

“I’m coming to see that entering treatment is only the start,” said Sean P., a client of Lethbridge Recovery Community, in a government press release celebrating the anniversary.

“With the support of the staff and the community here, I’m beginning to face my past and make real changes. Recovery is giving me the tools I need for this journey, and I’m genuinely excited to keep growing and moving forward with their help.”

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Agriculture

2024 harvest wrap-up: Minister Sigurdson

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As the 2024 growing season comes to a close, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation RJ Sigurdson issued the following statement:

“While many Albertans were enjoying beautiful fall days with above-average temperatures, farmers were working around the clock to get crops off their fields before the weather turned. I commend their continued dedication to growing quality crops, putting food on tables across the province and around the world.

“Favourable weather conditions in August and early September allowed for a rapid start to harvest, leading to quick and efficient completion.

“The final yield estimates show that while the South, North West and Peace regions were slightly above average, the yields in the Central and North East regions were below average.

“Crop quality for oats and dry peas is currently exceeding the five-year average, with a higher rate of these crops grading in the top two grade categories. In contrast, spring wheat, durum, barley and canola are all grading in the top two grades at rates lower than the five-year average.

“Crop grading is a process that determines the quality of a grain crop based on visual inspection and instrument analysis. Factors like frost damage, colour, moisture content and sprouting all impact grade and affect how the grain will perform during processing or how the end product will turn out. Alberta generally produces high-quality crops.

“Farmers faced many challenges over the last few years and, for some areas of the province, 2024 was a difficult growing season. But Alberta producers are innovative and resilient. They work constantly to meet challenges head-on and drive sustainable growth in our agricultural sector.

“Alberta farmers help feed the world, and I’m proud of the reputation for safe, high-quality agricultural products that this industry has built for itself. Thank you to our producers, and congratulations on another successful harvest!”

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