Project Reconciliation is getting closer to making an offer to purchase 51 per cent of the Trans Mountain Pipeline and its expansion project.
Steve Mason, one of the founders of Project Reconciliation says they have 28 town halls set for the first quarter of 2020 with First Nations communities across western Canada.
The goal is to get First Nations communities to be a part of their bid to buy majority of the project. Mason says the project provides an opportunity to benefit financially from the purchase in addition to being involved on the environmental and monitoring side of things.
Executive Chair and founder, Delbert Wapass says with majority ownership, the shareholders would be in the driver’s seat. The project would then provide the revenue to establish a sovereign wealth fund, to invest in other infrastructure opportunities.
Mason says over the last year, they have been increasing the awareness of their campaign and goals through social media. He adds they’re at a point were they’re execution ready.
A preliminary bid of around $6.9 billion dollars was delivered the federal government earlier this year.
Mason says their price would be an equalized price that the feds paid Kinder Morgan for the pipeline in addition to 51 per cent of the overall construction costs. Mason believes the $6.9 billion is likely a little bit on the lower side and a new bid would be larger.
Since the federal election, Mason says they’ve been in touch with officials in Ottawa and that they plan to be back at the table with the government at the end of January.
The Trans Mountain Pipeline runs from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C.