Kinder Morgan Canada has struck a deal to have the steel pipeline needed for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion made in Canada – the bulk of it in Saskatchewan.
It’s a deal that suddenly puts NDP Leader John Horgan in the uncomfortable position of being opposed to a project that is now supported by the United Steelworkers (USW) union – his party’s biggest donor.
Kinder Morgan Canada has struck a deal with EVRAZ North America to cut 250,000 metric tonnes of steel pipe for the project. Most of that work – 75% – will be done in EVRAZ’s plant in Regina.
“It has been our commitment from day one to deliver benefits from this project to Canadians, and we are pleased to announce the single largest potential procurement contract to a Canadian plant and Canadian workers,” Kinder Morgan Canada president Ian Anderson said in a news release.
The agreement is being applauded by the United Steelworkers (USW).
“The men and women of the United Steelworkers 5890 in Regina will be proud to produce the vast majority of the pipe for the Trans Mountain Expansion in Canada, for Canada,” Stephen Hunt, USW Western Canadian director, said in a news release.
“Making this pipe means preserving and creating highly skilled, well-paying, middle-class Canadian jobs.”
The USW has contributed more than $670,000 to the NDP, which is officially pledged to stopping the pipeline expansion.
The project is expected to create 15,000 jobs annually during peak construction (a period of about two years).
