Alberta
Alberta rail hub doubling in size to transport plastic from major new carbon-neutral plant
Haulage bridge at Cando Rail & Terminals’ Sturgeon Terminal in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, near Edmonton. Photo courtesy Cando Rail & Terminals
From the Canadian Energy Centre
By Will Gibson
Cando Rail & Terminals to invest $200 million to support Dow’s Path2Zero petrochemical complex
A major rail hub in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland will double in size to support a new carbon-neutral plastic production facility, turning the terminal into the largest of its kind in the country.
Cando Rail & Terminals will invest $200 million at its Sturgeon Terminal after securing Dow Chemical as an anchor tenant for its expanded terminal, which will support the planned $8.9 billion Path2Zero petrochemical complex being built in the region northeast of Edmonton.
“Half of the terminal expansion will be dedicated to the Dow project and handle the products produced at the Path2Zero complex,” says Steve Bromley, Cando’s chief commercial officer.
By incorporating carbon capture and storage, the complex, which began construction this spring, is expected to be the world’s first to produce polyethylene with net zero scope 1 and 2 emissions.
The widely used plastic’s journey to global markets will begin by rail.
“Dow stores their polyethylene in covered railcars while waiting to sell it,” Bromley says.
“When buyers purchase it, we will build unit trains and those cars will go to the Port of Prince Rupert and eventually be shipped to their customers in Asia.”
A “unit train” is a single train where all the cars carry the same commodity to the same destination.
The expanded Cando terminal will have the capacity to prepare 12,000-foot unit trains – or trains that are more than three-and-a-half kilometers long.
Construction will start on the expansion in 2025 at a 320-acre site west of Cando’s existing terminal, which 20 industrial customers use to stage and store railcars as well as assemble unit trains.
Bromley, a former CP Rail executive who joined Cando in 2013, says the other half of the terminal’s capacity not used by the Dow facility will be sold to other major projects in the region.
The announcement is the latest in a series of investments for Cando to grow its operations in Alberta that will see the company spend more than $500 million by 2027.
The company, which is majority owned by the Alberta Investment Management Corporation previously spent $100 million to acquire a 1,700-railcar facility in Lethbridge along with $150 million to build its existing Sturgeon terminal.
“Alberta is important to us – we have 300 active employees in this province and handle 900,000 railcars annually here,” Bromley says.
“But we are looking for opportunities across North America, both in Canada and the United States as well.”
Cando released the news of the Sturgeon Terminal expansion at the Alberta Industrial Heartland Association’s annual conference on Sept. 19.
“This is an investment in critical infrastructure that underpins additional growth in the region,” says Mark Plamondon, the association’s executive director.
The announcement came as the association marked its 25th anniversary at the event, which Plamondon saw as fitting.
“Dow’s Path2Zero came to the region because of the competitive advantages gained by clustering heavy industry. Competitive advantages are built from infrastructure that’s already here, such as the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line, which transports and stores carbon dioxide for industry,” he says.
“Having that level of integration can turn inputs into one operation into outputs for another. Competitive advantages for one become advantages for others. Cando’s investment will attract others just as Dow’s Path2Zero was a pull for additional investment.”
Alberta
Chris Scott and Rebecca Ingram attempting Class Action Lawsuit against Province for COVID restrictions
From Rath & Company
Business Class Action Update – October 1, 2021
The Certification Hearing scheduled with Justice Feasby will be available for online viewing. Below are the details you need to join the session:
Date and Time:
- October 2 and 3, 2024, at 10:00 AM (Mountain Time, UTC-06:00)
Join Online:
- Webex Link: https://albertacourts.webex.com/meet/virtual.courtroom16
- Webinar Number: 265 095 912
- Video address: [email protected]
- Webinar Password: COURT10022024 (or use the numeric code 26878100 when dialing in)
Join by Phone:
- Dial-In Number: +1-780-851-3573 (Canada Toll – Edmonton)
- Access Code: 277 254 26969
PLEASE NOTE – Recording or rebroadcasting of this hearing is strictly prohibited.
Documents related to this matter that have been filed to date are available for viewing online – see links BELOW.
We encourage all interested parties to observe the proceedings.
Alberta
Danielle Smith delivers on promise to protect gender-confused children in Alberta
From LifeSiteNews
The proposed legislation is the first of its kind in Canada and may set a precedent other provinces will follow.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has finally unveiled the promised legislation restricting sex-change surgeries and puberty blockers for minors. The legislation will include:
- Licensed doctors are prohibited from performing sex change surgeries on youth under 18 in Alberta.
- Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones will be prohibited for minors under the age of 16 unless the minors have already begun taking those drugs.
- Those “born biologically male” (that is, males) will be prohibited from competing against women and girls in competitive sports.
- Parental opt-in will be required for “each instance” a teacher wishes to discuss gender identity, sexual orientation, or human sexuality.
- Parental notification is required for “socially transitioning” a student — that is, changing a student’s given name or pronouns. 16- and 17-year-olds are still allowed to decide to change their name or pronouns in school, but parents must be notified.
Premier Smith detailed her plans in a long video posted to X, noting that “In less than a month, our UCP government will introduce critical legislation to ensure that children wait until adulthood before making decisions to physically alter their bodies for gender transition. We will also strengthen parental rights within our education system regarding this issue and ensure that women and girls can compete in female-only sports divisions.”
In less than a month, our UCP government will introduce critical legislation to ensure that children wait until adulthood before making decisions to physically alter their bodies for gender transition. We will also strengthen parental rights within our education system regarding… pic.twitter.com/tamjNDzcex
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) October 1, 2024
This news is incredibly significant for several reasons. Most important, it is a Canadian first. Other provinces have passed parental rights policies and made parental notification for “social transitioning” mandatory, but none have yet gone so far as to restrict sex-change surgeries or puberty blockers. In the time since Smith announced her plan to propose this legislation, the UK’s Labour Government and the high court has upheld the UK’s ban on puberty blockers, with the National Health Service condemning the practice and firmly rebutting the idea that such legislation causes suicidal ideation in trans-identified youth.
Smith also has shown willingness to actually push back against the disgusting accusations that immediately came her way. When Marci Ien, the MP for Toronto Centre and Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, claimed that Smith was “targeting trans youth” and that she would be “hurting” kids, Smith posted an article from the National Post titled “‘How will I come back from this?’: Detransitioners abandoned by medical and trans communities” and subtitled “They were irreversibly altered by mastectomies, hormone therapies when they were teens. What happens when they want their bodies back?”
“Do you mean children going through this, Marci Ien?” Smith asked. That is precisely the right response — pointing out that it is trans activists and their political enablers who pose a danger to the bodies of gender dysphoric children. It is also interesting to note that Smith used the phrase “gender reassignment surgery” in her posts and video rather than the trans-activist-approved “gender affirmation surgery,” which most media outlets and LGBT activist politicians use. Considering how carefully Smith and her caucus have approached this issue, that choice of words does not seem like an accident — they have chosen not to use language that implicitly affirms the premises of trans activists.
Not all of the responses were vitriolic. David Staples of the Edmonton Journal noted that Smith may be leading the way: “How long before all other Canadian provinces adopt similar rules around gender policy as Alberta? No more than 5 years? Many European countries leading the way here, Alberta following a sane and humane path.” Staples is correct. Trans activists have been steadily losing control of the narrative in a number of European countries, and the consensus that sterilizing and medicalizing gender dysphoric children is a medical scandal is growing. Canada has long been a holdout. I suspect history will look kindly on what Danielle Smith is doing here.
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