Federal officials are crediting their government’s economic policies — and subsidies — for landing an $8.9 billion ethylene cracker near Edmonton despite plans to proceed with an appeal on single use plastics such as straws and cutlery.Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland — along with Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault — were on hand at the Dow Chemical site in Fort Saskatchewan on Wednesday to cut the ribbon on the world’s first net-zero ethylene cracker that will ‘decarbonize’ up to 20% of Dow’s global production capacity for making things like straws and plastic forks, among others..It came as Dow’s American boss, Jim Fitterling took to the stage to confirm a final investment decision (FID) for the project, which will see the company build the world’s first and largest net-zero scope 1 and 2 emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives facility using carbon capture and integrated hydrogen production unit.When complete it will increase the company’s polyethylene capacity — plastic bags of the kind Ottawa wants to ban — by 2 million metric tonnes per year as well as retrofit the site to capture up to 20% of the company’s world-wide emissions.And he was clear that it wouldn’t have been accomplished without investment tax credits (ITCs) contained in Freeland’s previous budgets and economic statement released last week.Including another $2.7 billion in third-party add ons, the total cost of the project is worth $11.6 billion. “So today, we're here to celebrate with our government partners and to thank them for the tremendous support that they've given the project,” he said. “That support… was crucial to our decision to invest here.”.The irony is that Dow was an intervenor — along with the Alberta government — in a court case against Ottawa’s plastic ban that was ruled as unconstitutional by a federal court judge on November 20. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has indicated that his department will appeal the ruling.When pressed, Freeland denied there was any contradiction.“I think we all want to reduce pollution, to keep all of that natural world as clean as possible. And I think that that is a commitment shared by the Government of Canada and our business partners like Dow,” she said in response to a reporter’s question.“We also absolutely understand, as you see in this project today, that the path forward for Canada is a path where we have economic growth and reduction in emissions.”Champagne was also pressed — in French — whether it was a contradiction for Ottawa to be spending billions on EV plants in Ontario and Quebec while lending support for petrochemical production in Alberta. He didn’t answer that question in English and a French translation wasn’t immediately available, but it was safe to assume he mirrored Freeland’s remarks.In all, Ottawa will chip in about $400 million of the project’s cost, or a fraction of what is being offered by Alberta.Although she hailed its contribution, Premier Smith said it would be eligible for 12% capital cost rebates under Alberta’s petrochemical incentive plan — or upwards of $1.8 billion if and when all three proposed phases are complete by 2029.And though she reiterated plans to invoke the Sovereignty Act on electricity regulations, Smith nonetheless thanked her federal colleagues.“This is a huge win for Alberta’s petrochemical sector and clearly demonstrates our business-friendly policies are attracting job-creating investment across the province,” she said.
