NDP CALL FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO KEYSTONE XL DEAL

EDMONTON - Alberta’s NDP are calling for a public inquiry into the Keystone XL deal that has lost at least $1.3 billion of Albertans’ money.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley is calling for an inquiry under the Public Inquiries Act, led by a retired judge, to fully examine all the details of the transaction, including how the bad deal came about. 

“Jason Kenney lost at least $1.3 billion of Albertans’ money on a risky bet. The risk was extremely high and very well known. But he did it anyway.” said Notley. “That money didn’t belong to Jason Kenney. It belonged to Alberta families and business owners who pay their taxes and have a right to expect their money to be handled responsibly. Jason Kenney must be held accountable for losing so much of Albertans’ hard-earned money.”

In a Public Accounts Committee meeting on Tuesday, Auditor General Doug Wylie said his office will conduct a financial audit of the deal, which is to be delivered by November 2021. The audit is designed to provide a final accounting of how much money was lost on the project and is unlikely to uncover any additional information.

The Auditor General also confirmed that he will continue with his follow-up performance audit of the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission (APMC), focused on the agency's systems to manage risk. The APMC was a key player in the KXL deal, but the follow up audit will be limited to the agency’s system, and will exclude the role of the Ministry of Energy and Premier’s Office in the KXL deal. 

The inquiry should uncover what expert advice cabinet received on the value of this transaction and whether the government had a fully developed business case, all of the regulatory and political risk analysis, and all legal opinions the government received about its ability to recover any of the money if the project was cancelled.

“Did Jason Kenney do any of the basic due diligence that should have been done when risking this much of Albertans’ money? Or did he gamble away $1.3 billion of Alberta families’ and business owners’ money just so he could wear a hard hat and have a photo-op?” said Notley. “Albertans must have the truth and only a public inquiry can deliver it.”