Winnipegger Winnipegger:
dino_bobba_renno dino_bobba_renno:
Umm let’s start with Mulroney shutting it down. It was never shut down that I recall, in fact it flowed as it was originally intended (east bound) up until the 90's when the flow was reversed to deliver product to the refineries in Sarnia, that was done at the request of Imperial and other clients.
Who was this business man who bought the pipeline?
How did the business man you are referring to leave Ontario and Quebec with "little of that Middle East oil"?
According to the National Energy Board website, Government of Canada. As soon as Mulroney Conservatives were elected they shut it down. That was part of killing the National Energy Program. There were various attempts to restart it for commercial use, but it was never in continuous service. Oil began to flow east-to-west in 1999. It was owned by Enbridge Inc., the entirely American owned pipeline company associated with the Canadian company. Corporate structure has changed over the years; I don't know what it is now. I looked into it briefly when I posted this idea in December 2005, but quickly gave up. There were strongly worded statements that the two companies were entirely independent, despite the fact they share the same name and work together. Construction of the pipeline from Portland Maine to Montreal obviously began a long time before oil began to flow. Majority of the oil, and the focus of that pipeline, was to deliver Middle East oil to the mid-west of the United States. That focus comes from statements on the website of the American Enbridge Inc. that operated it. Ontario and Quebec refineries had the choice of bringing oil in by ship through the Saint Lawrence, or buying some of the oil from that pipeline.
I find it interesting that the history web pages I referenced on the National Energy Board website, and Canadian Petroleum Association website, are hard to find now.
Well first off Enbridge Inc is a Canadian company with its headquarters right here in Calgary. Yes there is a US Enbridge but Enbridge Inc has 25% ownership of it. The reason there is an Enbridge Inc (Canada) and an Enbridge US is due to the foreign ownership laws down in the states. At the end of the day though Enbridge is about as Canadian as they come when you’re talking about a multi-national.
Secondly, Enbridge built the line and has licensed it since the day it was commissioned. There was no “business man” who bought the line and mysteriously siphoned off oil from Canada and sent it down to the States, that’s complete and total rubbish.
Thirdly, Mulroney didn’t shut down the construction of a west to east pipeline. That was all ready done by the time he took power due to the economic climate prior to the Conservatives winning the election. Whether or not it was the Conservatives or the Liberals who began dismantling the NEP is another debate but at the time (1984) there were no large pipeline projects or any other notable projects for that matter going forward. In fact most oil companies and service companies were laying off as many people as they could during that time frame.
To in way suggest or state that; a) Line 9 was bought by some business man b) that that business man siphoned off oil from Canada or c) that Enbridge is an American company is completely false and misleading. I don’t know if you are making those statements intentionally or out of ignorance but either way you are mistaken and I would appreciate it if you would check your facts before making such insinuations.
As for the Liberals taking up the cause of a pipeline to transport oil from the Oil Sands through Ontario and Quebec, well I wish you luck with that one. The current reversal proposal is all ready meeting strong resistance from both provinces and I think it will be a cold day in hell before any Liberal would stick his or her neck out to support something so unpopular with their base regardless of whether it is good for the country as a whole or not.
CKA Elite 
