Newspaper publisher David Black says he has the solution to the inter-provincial fighting over the Kinder Morgan pipeline, and how to get bitumen to market without risking BC's environment and economy.
You may remember Black advocating for a refinery in Kitimat before the Northern Gateway project, which would also have piped diluted bitumen from Alberta to the BC coast. That project was overturned by the courts.
Black continues to work for a refinery in BC -- and has met with oil companies in Calgary twice in the last month. He is also suggesting drying bitumen, not diluting it:
" Now what I'm saying is look, we want to spend some money in Alberta, and dry it out, take that diluant out of it. And just ship us dry bitumen, solid bitumen. It's like shipping coal. And so we'll ship it by train and if there's a derailment you can pick it up with a backhoe. And I've had a lot of talks through northern BC and nobody is against that. Everybody thinks, yeah, that will keep it clean. So let's do that."
Black says the plan would benefit BC and Alberta, and oil companies would make more money refining their products here at home.
Black has been to Calgary twice in the last month meeting with major oil companies, and they are interested. But he says the provinces need to work together to make it happen:
" Hopefully if I can get both provinces on this. If the majors come in and say that they can make more money by doing it this way, then I really think that the provinces, both Alberta and BC will get onside, and we'll have the premiers working together rather than fighting each other."
Black says the Conservatives came to the realization that a refinery was the way to go, but the Liberals have not been prepared to listen as yet.
He says BC and Alberta together could make the Trudeau government listen and everyone would benefit.