Pipeline Debate
Encyclopedia
The Pipeline Debate was a political event in the history of the Parliament of Canada
.
The debate surrounded the finances of the TransCanada pipeline
, proper parliamentary procedure, and American economic influence on Canada. The controversy eventually contributed to the defeat of Louis St. Laurent
at the polls in 1957, ending many years of Liberal
rule, and bringing in a government under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
.
and Quebec
with the bountiful supply of natural gas
in Alberta, St. Laurent and his Minister of Trade and Commerce, C.D. Howe, decided to allow TransCanada PipeLines, LP
, a private American company, to build a gas pipeline from the west to the east. St. Laurent and Howe favoured a longer, more expensive route, entirely through Canadian territory, rejecting the route of the American oil pipeline, which was shorter, but crossed into the United States on its way to eastern Canada. The parliamentary debate on the issue focused on two issues: that a consortium that was owned by American interests required government loans to cover the extra costs incurred by building the long route, and whether involving American businesses in the construction would inevitably lead to the government surrendering the pipeline to American control.
The opposition Progressive Conservative Party
and Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
planned to delay the plan with a filibuster
. The Conservatives were opposed to the majority American ownership, even though the government pledged that the pipeline would only be under American control during the construction phase. The social democratic
CCF wanted the pipeline to be entirely owned by the government as it was sure to be profitable given the demand for gas in Eastern Canada.
To counter the opposition tactics, the Liberals attempted to force closure
—a vote ending debate and forcing a final vote—at every stage of the bill. The motions were carried with a heavily whipped Liberal caucus. During the heated exchanges of Parliament, in which Liberal MPs were called "trained seals" and "jackals", St. Laurent was seen calmly reading a book. Two weeks of debate received much coverage in most media outlets. Since most Canadians did not mind whether the pipeline was there or not, the actions of the Government seemed at best an overreaction, and at worst an undemocratic move.
René Beaudoin
allowed the opposition to debate a procedural matter . He ruled at the end of the day that debate on this issue would continue the following day, effectively allowing the opposition parties to debate the issue past the deadline. Howe was furious at the action.
However, at the next day's session, Beaudoin announced that the previous day's ruling was a mistake caused by the procedural confusion, all events after 2:15 that day should be ignored, and that debate would immediately recommence on the pipeline. The opposition parties strongly objected to the reversal, and chaos quickly broke out in Commons. MP
s ran into the centre aisle, and Major Coldwell, the usually serene CCF Leader, went on to the Speaker's dais, shaking his fist and berating Beaudoin. Liberal MP Lorne MacDougall
would literally die in the chamber of the house on this day, something that would be blamed on the stress of the issue.
The Opposition claimed that the Prime Minister and Howe had pressured the Speaker to change his mind. As a result of the Speaker's reversal, Howe and St. Laurent were able to push through the loan guarantee legislation on June 6. The deadline turned out not to be as important as originally thought: the factories that would construct pipe for the pipeline went on strike, delaying construction for a full year.
, the Conservatives won a minority government
, and in the 1958 election
, Diefenbaker won the largest majority
in Canadian history.
Beaudoin's reputation was also destroyed. A motion of censure was tabled by George Drew, but failed due to Liberal opposition. Later, a newspaper would publish a letter from Beaudoin, in which he criticized the actions of some of the opposition members during the debate. Seen as violating the neutrality of his position, the letter sealed his fate, and he would retire in 1958.
Howe would later comment, "We were too old. I was too old. I didn't have the patience any more that it takes to deal with Parliament."
The loans given to the American businesses involved in the construction of the pipeline were paid in full, ahead of schedule, and the pipeline still remains under Canadian control. TransCanada Corporation of Calgary
, Alberta owns and operates the pipeline today. TransCanada Corp. is a publicly traded company on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges (TSX
, NYSE
).
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
.
The debate surrounded the finances of the TransCanada pipeline
TransCanada pipeline
The TransCanada pipeline is a system of natural gas pipelines, up to 48 inches in diameter, that carries gas through Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. It is maintained by TransCanada PipeLines, LP...
, proper parliamentary procedure, and American economic influence on Canada. The controversy eventually contributed to the defeat of Louis St. Laurent
Louis St. Laurent
Louis Stephen St. Laurent, PC, CC, QC , was the 12th Prime Minister of Canada from 15 November 1948, to 21 June 1957....
at the polls in 1957, ending many years of Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
rule, and bringing in a government under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
.
Background
To meet the growing needs of OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
with the bountiful supply of natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
in Alberta, St. Laurent and his Minister of Trade and Commerce, C.D. Howe, decided to allow TransCanada PipeLines, LP
TransCanada PipeLines, LP
TC PipeLines, LP is a publicly traded master limited partnership. TransCanada Corporation owns 24.65% of the outstanding units and controls the general partner...
, a private American company, to build a gas pipeline from the west to the east. St. Laurent and Howe favoured a longer, more expensive route, entirely through Canadian territory, rejecting the route of the American oil pipeline, which was shorter, but crossed into the United States on its way to eastern Canada. The parliamentary debate on the issue focused on two issues: that a consortium that was owned by American interests required government loans to cover the extra costs incurred by building the long route, and whether involving American businesses in the construction would inevitably lead to the government surrendering the pipeline to American control.
The opposition Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
and Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
planned to delay the plan with a filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
. The Conservatives were opposed to the majority American ownership, even though the government pledged that the pipeline would only be under American control during the construction phase. The social democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
CCF wanted the pipeline to be entirely owned by the government as it was sure to be profitable given the demand for gas in Eastern Canada.
The debate
The opposition parties were aware that parliamentary approval of the plan had to be obtained by June 6, 1956, to get necessary financing in time for pipeline construction to start by July 1, as the Liberal government had promised. The opposition believed that if the Liberals missed this deadline, the plan might fall apart under its own weight, and a new all-Canadian consortium or a Crown Corporation might be put together.To counter the opposition tactics, the Liberals attempted to force closure
Cloture
In parliamentary procedure, cloture is a motion or process aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. It is also called closure or, informally, a guillotine. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. Clôture is French for "ending" or "conclusion"...
—a vote ending debate and forcing a final vote—at every stage of the bill. The motions were carried with a heavily whipped Liberal caucus. During the heated exchanges of Parliament, in which Liberal MPs were called "trained seals" and "jackals", St. Laurent was seen calmly reading a book. Two weeks of debate received much coverage in most media outlets. Since most Canadians did not mind whether the pipeline was there or not, the actions of the Government seemed at best an overreaction, and at worst an undemocratic move.
The deadline
On the day before the deadline, Liberal Speaker of the House of CommonsSpeaker of the Canadian House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of Canada and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow Members of Parliament...
René Beaudoin
Louis-René Beaudoin
Louis-René Beaudoin, PC was Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons from 1953 to 1957.Though trained as a lawyer, Beaudoin came from a working class background and financed his education by working as a bus driver and labourer...
allowed the opposition to debate a procedural matter . He ruled at the end of the day that debate on this issue would continue the following day, effectively allowing the opposition parties to debate the issue past the deadline. Howe was furious at the action.
However, at the next day's session, Beaudoin announced that the previous day's ruling was a mistake caused by the procedural confusion, all events after 2:15 that day should be ignored, and that debate would immediately recommence on the pipeline. The opposition parties strongly objected to the reversal, and chaos quickly broke out in Commons. MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
s ran into the centre aisle, and Major Coldwell, the usually serene CCF Leader, went on to the Speaker's dais, shaking his fist and berating Beaudoin. Liberal MP Lorne MacDougall
Lorne MacDougall
John Lorne MacDougall was a Liberal party member of the Canadian House of Commons.MacDougall was born in Tiverton, Ontario, moved to Saskatchewan in childhood, then studied dentistry at Toronto's Ontario Dental College. He fought in World War I in the same army unit as fellow House of Commons...
would literally die in the chamber of the house on this day, something that would be blamed on the stress of the issue.
The Opposition claimed that the Prime Minister and Howe had pressured the Speaker to change his mind. As a result of the Speaker's reversal, Howe and St. Laurent were able to push through the loan guarantee legislation on June 6. The deadline turned out not to be as important as originally thought: the factories that would construct pipe for the pipeline went on strike, delaying construction for a full year.
Epilogue
While the pipeline was put through, public opinion of the Liberal government fell 10 points in most opinion polls. The Progressive Conservatives would use the pipeline debate to show that the Liberals had become arrogant during their 21 consecutive years in government. In the 1957 electionCanadian federal election, 1957
The Canadian federal election of 1957 was held June 10, 1957, to select the 265 members of the House of Commons of Canada. In one of the great upsets in Canadian political history, the Progressive Conservative Party , led by John Diefenbaker, brought an end to 22 years of Liberal rule, as the...
, the Conservatives won a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
, and in the 1958 election
Canadian federal election, 1958
The Canadian federal election of 1958 was the 24th general election in Canada's history. It was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election...
, Diefenbaker won the largest majority
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
in Canadian history.
Beaudoin's reputation was also destroyed. A motion of censure was tabled by George Drew, but failed due to Liberal opposition. Later, a newspaper would publish a letter from Beaudoin, in which he criticized the actions of some of the opposition members during the debate. Seen as violating the neutrality of his position, the letter sealed his fate, and he would retire in 1958.
Howe would later comment, "We were too old. I was too old. I didn't have the patience any more that it takes to deal with Parliament."
The loans given to the American businesses involved in the construction of the pipeline were paid in full, ahead of schedule, and the pipeline still remains under Canadian control. TransCanada Corporation of Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta owns and operates the pipeline today. TransCanada Corp. is a publicly traded company on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges (TSX
Toronto Stock Exchange
Toronto Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Canada, the third largest in North America and the seventh largest in the world by market capitalisation. Based in Canada's largest city, Toronto, it is owned by and operated as a subsidiary of the TMX Group for the trading of senior equities...
, NYSE
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
).