The Alberta government is hopeful a new ad campaign will put pressure on the federal government to approve the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
Energy Minister, Sonya Savage, announced the “Yes to TMX” campaign at a news conference in Ottawa Wednesday morning.
Savage says the multimedia campaign is designed to reinforce the message that Alberta wants the federal government to approve the pipeline, which would triple bitumen capacity from Edmonton to Burnaby.
The campaign is expected to be viewed across Canada, but the Alberta has already spent $1.6 million on advertising in Ottawa alone.
“We can’t take any chances,” Savage said. “We’re optimistic and we’re hopeful that the government won’t delay, but if there is any delay, we could lose an entire construction season and that’s going to have an unbelievable detrimental impact to Alberta.”
Savage was unable to comment on how money would be spent nationally on the campaign, but suggested smaller targeted campaigns in other communities.
The energy minister also said she’s using her visit in Ottawa to speak with senators to condemn Bills C-48 and C-69.
Those proposed bills would ban oil tanker traffic on the north coast of B.C. and create a more difficult approval process for major energy projects.
Savage’s Ottawa visit also comes on the heels of the Alberta UCP government announcing it would cut business taxes from 12 per cent to 11 per cent starting July 1, in an effort to improve investor confidence.
Premier Jason Kenney also hopes to boost the economy by introducing bills to repeal the provincial carbon tax and reduce the minimum wage for youth.
The “Yes to TMX” campaign will run up until June 18 when the federal government is expected to make a formal decision on whether or not to approve the project.
That's well beyond the 90-day deadline to make a decision that was set by the National Energy Board (NEB).
The NEB previously endorsed the project on Feb. 22 after a period of uncertainty last summer.
Last year, the Liberal government purchased the project for $4.5 billion, but the federal Court of Appeal soon quashed its approval.
The appeal forced Ottawa to conduct renewed Indigenous consultations and marine life-related environmental assessments.
As a result, the NEB made 16 recommendations to better protect marine life on the B.C. coast.
