In a major blow to the Keystone XL pipeline — and bilateral relations with the US — a Canada-US trade tribunal has tossed a USD$15 billion damages claim.That’s the amount of money Calgary-based TC Energy — formerly TransCanada — said it was owed in damages under the old NAFTA free trade agreement after US president Joe Biden nixed the project on his first day in office.Last Friday, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal sided with the US government by refusing to hear the case..In doing so, TC said the US government breached its free trade obligations. That all but puts the final nail in the coffin of the proposed expansion that would have shipped 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of Alberta crude to refineries on the US Gulf Coast.That also means the Alberta government has been stiffed $1.5 billion after taking an equity stake in the project in 2020. It has a separate complaint pending before the ICSID tribunal.The project was first rejected under former president Barack Obama but Donald Trump urged the company to reapply for permits in 2016. But it continued to sag under the weight of repeated court challenges and permit delays..“We are both disappointed and frustrated with the Tribunal’s decision to deny our right to bring a legacy NAFTA claim,”Patrick Keys, TC’s executive vice-president .TC officials said they were dismayed with the decision and blamed politics for the ruling. In fact, the company changed its name due to what it said were prejudicial connotations south of the border.“We are both disappointed and frustrated with the Tribunal’s decision to deny our right to bring a legacy NAFTA claim,” Patrick Keys, TC’s executive vice-president and general counsel said in an email to The Canadian Press. “This ruling does not align with our expectations and views of the plain interpretation of the protections NAFTA and the USMCA were designed to offer. TC Energy was treated unfairly and inequitably in the revocation of the permit, which was driven by political considerations.”
