Following assurances that taxpayers would earn a profit from the Trans Mountain Pipeline, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said taxpayers will now “likely” recover billions spent..According to Blacklock's Reporter, Freeland said in a Senate tabling that analyses by private banks suggest “the project will likely allow the government to recoup its expenses with the potential for a positive financial return and be profitable for future owners.”.But the details must be kept secret, wrote Freeland. “The government does not intend to publish those analyses given contractual and commercial confidentiality limitations,” Freeland said, adding that the government is "confident" strong interest remains from prospective purchasers of Trans Mountain Corporation..The Department of Finance last February 18 said it would not spend a penny more on the pipeline expansion after costs went 46% over budget. Expenses to expand the line from Edmonton to Burnaby, BC, were originally estimated at $7.4 billion under Kinder Morgan ownership..Cabinet in 2020 put expansion costs at $13.2 billion. Expenses have been revised to $21.4 billion..“The government will spend no additional public money on the project,” the finance department wrote in a February 18 notice. Cabinet subsequently approved a $10-billion loan guarantee for Trans Mountain but in a May 11 statement called it a “common practice” that “does not reflect any new public spending.”.“The expansion project continues to be an important investment in Canada’s economy which is creating thousands of Canadian jobs and which will responsibly deliver Canadian natural resources to meet demand in global markets,” Freeland wrote to the Senate..Two years ago, Cabinet promised the pipeline would be profitable for taxpayers. “The Canadian approach will be to ensure that we make a profit,” then Finance Minister Bill Morneau testified at 2020 House of Commons finance committee hearings. “So that’s where we are on that. We believe this is the right thing for us to do, to deal with a political challenge.”.No parliamentary committee ever examined the Trans Mountain agreement in detail. Cabinet on May 29, 2018 nationalized the pipeline at a $4.5 billion purchase price though a Federal Court of Appeal ruling was pending on the viability of the license. Three months later on August 31, the Court ordered a halt to construction due to “critical errors” in consulting First Nations.
