Alberta Justice Minister condemns 'sad losers' for taking part in apparent white supremacist rally in north Edmonton


Anna Junker

© Provided by Edmonton Journal At about 8 p.m., Edmonton police attended a

Alberta’s justice minister is condemning the “sad losers” who took part in an apparent white supremacist rally Tuesday night in Edmonton.

At about 8 p.m., Edmonton police attended a “demonstration involving opposing groups” in a parking lot near 118 Avenue and 82 Street, spokeswoman Cheryl Voordenhout said in an email. There were about 100 people in attendance.

Voordenhout said while interactions between the groups were mostly verbal, officers had to separate some individuals who began physically fighting. A 39-year-old man was arrested and later released without charges.

According to CTV News , a group calling themselves “patriots” accused the other group as being “anti-fascists” while those on that side called the first group Nazis.

After about one hour, both sides left the area. No tickets were issues and no injuries were reported.

In a series of tweets Wednesday morning, Justice Minister and Solicitor General Kaycee Madu said he condemns any demonstration of bigotry and racism.

“Last night, a small group of sad losers organized what has been described as some as a white supremacist rally in a grocery store parking lot in North #YEG,” Madu said. “And while all Canadians have a right to free expression, I absolutely condemn any demonstration of bigotry and racism.”


He added he condemns any group that relies on race, ethnicity or colour of skin to discriminate against anyone and groups who seek to divide or encourage violence on the basis of race.

“We cannot allow ourselves to be divided on the basis of race, religion, or creed. I’m confident that the overwhelming majority of Albertans want nothing to do with such nonsense,” Madu said.

“And to any racists who seek to divide our great province, your hateful views are not welcome in Alberta.”

Don Iveson

@doniveson

Racists are NOT patriots & hate speech is NOT acceptable in #YEG. White folks aggressively spitting “all lives matter” inelegantly proves the point that Black, Indigenous & People of Colour’s lives have not yet been universally afforded equal value in our society. STOP IT.

Muna Saleh

@DrMunaSaleh

Let me fix your headline for you ⁦@ctvedmonton⁩: Anti-Racists Disrupt White Supremacist Rally in North Edmonton. https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/race-related-fight-involving-about-100-people-erupts-in-ne-edmonton-1.5125925…

9:35 AM · Sep 30, 2020

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Mayor Don Iveson also took to Twitter to condemn the rally and said racists are not patriots and hate speech is not acceptable.

“White folks aggressively spitting ‘all lives matter’ inelegantly proves the point that Black, Indigenous & People of Colour’s lives have not yet been universally afforded equal value in our society. STOP IT,” Iveson said.

This latest rally comes after violence erupted at an anti-racism rally in Red Deer on Sept. 20. RCMP have since launched a criminal investigation .

Kaycee Madu

@KayceeMaduYEG

Last night, a small group of sad losers organized what has been described by some as a “white supremacist rally” in a grocery store parking lot in North #YEG. And while all Canadians have a right to free expression, I absolutely condemn any demonstration of bigotry and racism.

9:37 AM · Sep 30, 2020

Kaycee Madu

@KayceeMaduYEG

·

Sep 30, 2020

Last night, a small group of sad losers organized what has been described by some as a “white supremacist rally” in a grocery store parking lot in North #YEG. And while all Canadians have a right to free expression, I absolutely condemn any demonstration of bigotry and racism.

Kaycee Madu

@KayceeMaduYEG

I condemn any group that relies on race, ethnicity or colour of skin to discriminate against anyone, including groups who described themselves as white supremacist with similar objectives. I also condemn groups who seek to divide us or encourage violence on the basis of race.

9:37 AM · Sep 30, 2020

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Shell plans to cut up to 9,000 jobs as oil demand slumps

by The Associated Press POSTED SEP 30, 2020 

In this Monday, April 7, 2014 file photo, a flag bearing the company logo of Royal Dutch Shell, flies outside the head office in The Hague, Netherlands. Global oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is urging Canada's largest oil and gas organization to get off the fence and support both the Paris climate accord and the pricing of carbon to encourage greenhouse gas emission reduction. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Peter Dejong, File

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday it’s planning to cut between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2022 following a collapse in demand for oil and a subsequent slide in oil prices during the coronavirus pandemic.

The oil company said around 1,500 employees have already agreed to take voluntary redundancy this year and that it’s looking at a raft of other areas where it can cut costs, such as travel, its use of contractors and virtual working. Overall, it said it expects the cost-cutting measures to secure annual cost savings of between $2 billion and $2.5 billion by 2022.

“We have to be a simpler, more streamlined, more competitive organization that is more nimble and able to respond to customers,” Ben van Beurden, the company’s chief executive, said. “To be more nimble, we have to remove a certain amount of organizational complexity.”

In June, rival BP said it was cutting around 10,000 jobs from its workforce to cope with the impact of the virus.

Shell also said that it expects third-quarter production to be between 2.15 million and 2.25 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, and that daily production levels have been impacted by between 60,000 and 70,000 barrels because of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Associated Press

Natural gas producers frustrated by Ottawa's delay to TC Energy's biggest pipeline expansion

KENNEY'S BOONDOGGLE
Geoffrey Morgan
 

© Provided by Financial Post TC Energy’s plan to put the last piece of the Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. expansion into service at a cost of $2.4 billion has been delayed for a full year.

CALGARY — A delayed natural gas pipeline project in Alberta will impact close to $4 billion in planned capital spending this year, delay drilling plans and potentially lead to commodity price volatility next year, according to gas producers.

“We were all very disappointed that while we’re still drilling wells and keeping the lights on, the Canadian government couldn’t get an approval done. That’s pretty frustrating and it put this project back,” said Darren Gee, president and CEO of Peyto Exploration and Development Corp., of what is now expected to be a yearlong delay to a $2.4-billion gas pipeline expansion by TC Energy Corp.

Calgary-based pipeline giant TC Energy has spent $9 billion expanding its largest asset and Canada’s largest natural gas pipeline network, called Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. or NGTL, in recent years. The goal of the massive, multi-year expansion was to alleviate pinch points in critical parts of the system and allow more gas from northwestern Alberta to flow to trading and storage hubs in southern Alberta.

The Canada Energy Regulator recommended the federal government approve the project on Feb. 19, triggering a 90-day timeline for Ottawa to make a decision. But on May 19, the government opted to take another 150 days to review the project and consult with affected Indigenous communities.

Now, even as a decision is expected on Oct. 19, TC Energy’s plan to put the last piece of that expansion into service at a cost of $2.4 billion has been delayed for a full year and Canadian natural gas producers are concerned the bottlenecks on the NGTL system will lead to unpredictable swings in Canadian gas prices.

“This was the last of the $9 billion of capital they were going to invest in the Nova system,” said Gee, adding companies in the industry are now unsure how much to drill this winter because they don’t want to overwhelm the system’s bottlenecks next summer.

“What are producers to do? I guess we shouldn’t go drill,” he said.

The NGTL additions were planned to arrive just in time for Canadian natural gas producers, which have been struggling with low prices for years. Following the pandemic, however, competing natural gas production in the U.S. is projected to decline sharply and is setting up a better commodity price outlook for gas. The producers are concerned the opportunity is now in jeopardy.

Multiple natural gas executives have compared the NGTL system to a puzzle with missing pieces, and those missing pieces make it difficult for traders and producers to determine how much gas to drill, buy and sell next summer.

“There’s a reason they needed the entire system to expand and they really needed to complete that in order to prevent disarray in the market,” said Tristan Goodman, president of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada, which is an industry group representing small- and mid-sized oil and gas companies.

“We’re missing pieces, basically,” he said of the delay to the last piece of TC Energy’s NGTL expansion.

TC Energy had planned to begin construction on a 1.45 billion cubic feet expansion to the NGTL system between Grande Prairie and Rocky Mountain House, Alta., this summer in order to have the expansion up and running in April 2021, but the federal government delayed final approvals for the project on May 19.

In an email to the Financial Post, the pipeline giant said it has now lost the summer construction season and the new in-service date for the expansion is April 2022, which has frustrated Canadian natural gas producers concerned the bottlenecks on the system will lead to the kind of gas price volatility experienced in the summer of 2017, 2018 and much of 2019, when the AECO benchmark would frequently trade in negative territory.

© Jim Wells/Postmedia files TC Energy CEO Russ Girling at a Keystone XL pipeline announcement.

The industry is still waiting on federal government approval for the project, which is now expected on Oct. 19.

EPAC’s Goodman said the industry is frustrated by the delay but understands that Ottawa needs to ensure it properly consults with affected Indigenous communities along the route. “Yes, we are disappointed but in the same sense we can appreciate why the Crown and the federal government did delay that,” he said.

Ottawa delayed a decision on the project because of the coronavirus pandemic at the request of Indigenous communities along the route, according to Ian Cameron, spokesperson for Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan.

“It is a core responsibility of the federal government to help get our natural resources to new markets and create good jobs. This is only possible when we meet our constitutional duty to meaningfully consult with potentially impacted Indigenous communities,” Cameron said in an email.

Executives at Calgary-based natural gas companies said the delay is particularly frustrating as Alberta struggles with a deep recession and thousands of job losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and related plunge in oil prices.

The 2021 NGTL Expansion project would have put 5,500 people to work, TC Energy said in an emailed statement.  

© The Montreal Gazette files The 2021 NGTL Expansion project would have put 5,500 people to work, TC Energy said.

“We remain committed to the project and continue to engage with the government to advocate the criticality of a timely approval to enable us to construct to provide the essential capacity require to serve incremental transportation contracts and meet the growing demand for natural gas,” TC Energy said in an email to the Financial Post.

Altogether, the expected hit to capital spending in Alberta this year will be closer to $3.9 billion because the $2.4 billion in spending on the pipeline expansion will be delayed, and that will in turn delay $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in upstream capital spending, said Cameron Gingrich, managing partner and strategy at Calgary-based consultancy Incorrys Inc.

“Between the $2.4-billion project and additional $1.5 billion in upstream spending, you’re basically deferring that in the economy by a year or so, which in a COVID world is a really tough thing to take,” Gingrich said. “Certainly there’s a multiplier to the $2.4 billion and the $1.5 billion, which includes hotels and restaurants and fuel stations along the way.”

The delay has also led to a renewed fight between TC Energy and gas producers over how the NGTL system should operate in order to minimize the effect of the pinch points along the system, which producers say have in the past prevented them from accessing storage facilities.

The provincial government stepped in to help negotiate the service protocol between a divided set of producers and TC Energy in 2019. Simply put, the temporary protocol allowed producers with interruptible service contracts on the NGTL system to send their gas to storage even when TC Energy needs to interrupt service on the pipelines for maintenance.

EPAC has asked the Canada Energy Regulatory to extend that temporary protocol, which had been scheduled to expire this year, through 2021. TC Energy has opposed this extension and now the Alberta government is getting involved again.

“With regards to the temporary storage protocol, our government will always be supportive of any initiative that sees the natural gas sector working together for the collective success of the industry,” Alberta’s Associate Minister of Natural Gas Dale Nally said in an email.

In a province reeling from the oil price crash, grounded flights and zero international tourism, growth in the natural gas business would have provided a small buoy in a deep recession.

“Natural gas has been the one bright light for the global energy market since the pandemic hit, and throughout the oil price crash,” Nally said.

Financial Post

TC Energy's Girling Retires as Keystone Pipeline Battle Goes On

Bloomberg News
Robert Tuttle
Publishing date: Sep 21, 2020 • 


(Bloomberg) — Russ Girling, the man who spent a decade battling to build the controversial Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, is stepping down as TC Energy Corp.’s chief executive officer with the project still uncompleted.

Chief Operating Officer Francois Poirier will take the top job at TC Energy on Dec. 31, the Calgary-based company said Monday in a statement. Girling. 58, will stay on through Feb. 28 to assist with the transition before taking retirement.

Keystone XL became the central drama of Girling’s time at the helm of TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada Corp. The proposed 830,000-barrel-a-day pipeline line connecting Alberta with Nebraska became symbolic of the battle between environmentalists concerned about climate change and the Canadian oil sands industry. The project was rejected by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2015 and approved just over a year later by newly elected President Donald Trump, but since then it has been mired in court battles, even as construction started on the Canadian portion of the line.

The most recent setback for Keystone XL came in July when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow construction to begin in the U.S., leaving in place a federal court order that blocks use of a key federal permit. TC Energy said later that month it was looking for a way to gain permitting for the project.

The timing of Girling’s plan to retire may surprise the market, according to CIBC World Markets Inc. and Stifel Canada. CIBC analyst Robert Catellier said in a note he doesn’t see a material change in the company’s strategy. TC Energy’s shares dropped 2.4% to C$59.03 at 1:10 p.m. in Toronto amid a broad sell-off in commodities and stocks.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

KENNEY'S BOONDOGGLE

TC Energy lays off staff in Canadian gas operations and projects division

FORMERLY TRANS CANADA PIPELINES

BUILDERS OF THE KXL PIPELINE

@CTVRyanWhite Wednesday, September 30, 2020

TC Energy confirmed Tuesday that 'staffing changes' have been made in its Canada Gas Operations & Projects team (file)

CALGARY -- Restructuring at Calgary-based TC Energy Corporation has resulted in the loss of jobs.

The move comes after the company, formerly known as TransCanada Corporation, signed a memorandum of understanding with Natural Law Energy which represents four First Nations in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan.

The deal, which is expected to be finalized later this year, will see Natural Law Energy purchase an equity stake in the Keystone XL pipeline.

"Our Canada Gas Operations & Projects team is implementing a new structure to ensure the optimal skill sets to navigate the next tranche of our expansion and operations," said TC Energy in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "TC Energy continually reviews our organizational structure and processes to ensure we continue to deliver safe and reliable services while meeting the needs of our customers. As ordinary course of operating our business, staffing changes are made as required to remain competitive and optimize our operations."

TC Energy has not disclosed how many positions were cut as a result of the staffing changes.

Alberta's opposition NDP says the layoffs are a direct result of missteps by the provincial government and are calling on the UCP to release how many TC Energy employees lost their jobs.

“Jason Kenney and the UCP gave TC Energy $7.5 billion dollars [sic] with no strings attached," said NDP MLAs Irfan Sabir and Deron Bilous in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "The layoffs today are a devastating example of Jason Kenney’s failure to create jobs and spur economic growth. Jason Kenney and the UCP lost 50,000 jobs before the pandemic. Now even more people are wondering how they’re going to pay their bills, put food on their table, and support their families." 

 

The NDP are calling on Premier Jason Kenney to release the undisclosed details of the deal the Government of Alberta made with TC Energy earlier this year.

"Albertans deserve to know where their $7.5 billions [sic] went, what will happen if this project fails completely, and how many more jobs will be lost while rich shareholders and profitable corporations fill their pockets at the expense of Albertans,” said Irfan.

According to the NDP, the cuts at TC Energy included layoffs in management.

TC Energy implementing staffing changes, doesn't confirm how many employees being laid off


by Jeff Slack

POSTED SEP 30, 2020 

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — Calgary-based TC Energy, working on the Keystone XL pipeline, says staffing changes are being made to remain a competitor in the market.

In an email statement to 660 NEWS, the pipeline firm said its “Canada Gas Operations and Projects team is implementing a new structure to ensure the optimal skill sets to navigate the next tranche of our expansion and operations”

“TC Energy continually reviews our organizational structure and processes to ensure we continue to deliver safe and reliable services while meeting the needs of our customers.”

“As ordinary course of operating our business, staffing changes are made as required to remain competitive and optimize our operations,” the statement finishes.

TC Energy did not confirm how many people were being let go from the company.

Opposition Energy Critic Irfan Sabir accused the UCP government of giving billions of dollars to the company without limitations.

“This was supposed to be jobs and get products to market,” he said.

“Instead, the Keystone XL project is embroiled in legal and political uncertainty and political uncertainty and the company itself is laying off people right here in Calgary.”

“We don’t know how many people are laid off and that’s not okay. Jason Kenney needs to immediately instruct his Labour Minister, Jason copping to release the number of people laid off.”

TC Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with Canadian Indigenous communities on Tuesday, that will allow them to pursue an ownership interest in the Keystone XL pipeline project.

The final agreement between TC Energy and Natural Law is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020, formalizing its participation in Keystone XL.

In March, the company approved construction of the US$8-billion project to transport up to 830,000 barrels per day of oil from Alberta to Nebraska after the Alberta government agreed to invest about US$1.1 billion as equity and guarantee a US$4.2-billion project loan.

– With files from the Canadian Press

TC Energy layoffs add to oil patch woes amid low demand


 
EMMA GRANEY ENERGY REPORTER
GLOBE & MAIL
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 29, 202


Pipes intended for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline are shown in Gascoyne, N.D. in 2015. ALEX PANETTA/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Calgary-based TC Energy Corp. has laid off line workers and managers in its natural gas division as the industry continues to shed jobs in the face of low demand and declining revenues as a result of the pandemic.

TC Energy would not provide the number of employees affected, but said in an e-mail its Canadian gas operations and projects team is being restructured. The move is the latest in a series of job and capital expenditure cuts in the energy sector as companies try to protect their bottom lines.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says more than 28,000 production jobs have been lost across the country in 2020. In the oil field service sector, the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors estimates its members have slashed their work forces by between 20 per cent and 50 per cent this year.

Some of the companies that have reduced their work forces this year include Ovintiv Inc. – formerly Canadian energy giant Encana – which laid off workers across its North American operations over the summer. Total Energy Services Inc. and STEP Energy Services Ltd. cut jobs in the spring.

Energy companies were already facing pressures before the pandemic, largely because of depressed oil prices. Husky Energy Inc., for example, laid off hundreds of employees late last year, followed a few weeks later by Perpetual Energy Inc., which slashed its work force by 25 per cent.

This week’s job cuts at TC Energy are restricted to the company’s natural gas operations. That includes a 93,300-kilometre network of natural gas pipeline, which supplies more than 25 per cent of natural gas consumed daily across North America to heat homes, fuel industries and generate power.

In Canada, the company is pursuing a pipeline expansion in northwest Alberta that will run southeast toward Rocky Mountain House. The expansion would add around 350 kilometres of new pipeline to its existing natural gas system. Work planned for the project this year has been delayed as the company awaits federal government approvals.

TC Energy said in September it remained committed to the project and would refine the construction schedule and advance construction planning in anticipation of an approval.

The overhaul at TC Energy comes days after the company’s long-time president and chief executive officer Russ Girling announced his retirement, surprising the market.

Mr. Girling led TC Energy through a period of unprecedented growth, including the development of its liquids-pipeline business, expansion of its power-generation portfolio and its US$13-billion acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group in 2016.

For a decade he also led the charge to get the Keystone pipeline expansion built, despite reams of legal challenges and regulatory hurdles along the way.

The pipeline received a boost in March when the Alberta government agreed to contribute US$1.1-billion to gain an ownership stake that it plans to sell back to the company after commercial operations begin. It will also guarantee US$4.2-billion of debt related to the 1,947-kilometre pipeline.

Kavi Bal, spokesperson for Alberta’s Energy Minister Sonya Savage, said Tuesday the changes made by TC Energy are not related to the Keystone XL project. While the province now has a direct financial interest, it does not decide the day-to-day operations or management of TC Energy, he said.

Also on Tuesday, Natural Law Energy – comprising the Maskwacis Nations, Saddle Lake Cree Nation and Nekaneet First Nation – signed a memorandum of understanding with TC Energy to pursue an equity interest in Keystone XL “and other potential related midstream and power projects.”

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