Denounce the Alberta Government's TC Energy Deal
As private lenders from the financial oligarchy have refused to lend their social wealth to the project without state guarantees, Kenney also announced the province would provide a $6 billion loan guarantee. This means, in essence, that Alberta assumes the entire risk of $7.5 billion for a project that has so far been unable to overcome opposition to it in the United States and whose economic viability is far from assured, given the turmoil in the global energy sector and the uncertainty of oil market prices. The only people gaining from this provincial giveaway are those of the financial oligarchy who own and control TC Energy, those who want somewhere to lend their social wealth without risk, and those who own and control the big construction companies poised to build the project with a state guarantee of payments. Kenney's TC Energy handout must be denounced as state-organized corruption to pay the rich. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the completion of construction and the pipeline's economic viability, and the growing demand for an alternative to hitching Alberta's economic wagon to the U.S. war economy, the project has not made progress since it was first proposed in 2008. TC Energy has been unable to raise enough private social wealth for construction as investors from the financial oligarchy consider the project too risky. Only a government guarantee would convince them to lend their money, where they would profit under all circumstances. Kenney admitted as much, saying his pay-the-rich scheme would "facilitate TC Energy's access to capital at commercial rates to continue construction." In promoting the handout to the energy oligarchs during this double crisis of a collapse of oil market prices and an unprecedented pandemic when the needs of the people are steadily rising with mass unemployment, loss of income and destruction of small and medium-sized businesses, Kenney said the construction of the pipeline would create much needed jobs. This boast cannot be taken seriously. The Alberta government estimates that 1,400 workers will be needed for the Canadian section of the pipeline which is 526 km long. This is not full-year employment, but likely about three months each year for two years. TC Energy has doubled the number to 2,800 by counting each year as a separate job. It would be safe to assume that most, if not all, of the pipe and other materials will not be made in Canada, especially given the "America First" chauvinist bleating of the U.S. President.
The people demand a stop to paying the rich and an increase in investments in social programs and public services to meet the needs of the people and activate the economy. The time is now to put as many people to work as possible in emergency jobs to collectively fight the pandemic and economic crisis and the terrible effects they are having on the people. The time is now to provide a living stipend to all during this double crisis and begin serious discussion on a new direction and aim for the economy. Canadians need an economy that serves the people and not the rich and humanizes the social and natural environment. Stop Paying the Rich!
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
Alberta Premier
Jason Kenney announced on March 30 that the
government would give the private energy cartel TC
Energy $1.5 billion to kick-start construction of
the disputed Keystone XL pipeline from Hardisty,
Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska.
Kenney's assertion
of jobs as an excuse to give money to the rich is
further undermined with his own actions to cut
funding to Alberta school boards that has resulted
in a layoff of as many as 25,000 education
workers. When news of this crime was announced,
many began shouting: Shame on you Kenney for
attacking the people and compounding their
problems during this time of need!