Mixed reaction in northwestern Ontario over Energy East cancellation

There is mixed reaction in northwestern Ontario over news that TransCanada will not go forward with its Energy East pipeline and Eastern Mainline proposals, but one municipal group says it's already looking ahead.

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) represents and lobbies for 37 municipalities in the region.

Association president Wendy Landry said local communities should have more say over how fast trains can travel, now that a pipeline through the region is no longer an option.

• TransCanada won't proceed with Energy East pipeline

"Twenty eight of our member communities are located immediately adjacent to or divided by the CN-CP main track here in the northwest, so obviously a lot of concern surrounding safety," she said.

The municipal association passed a resolution supporting Energy East to transport oil from Alberta to the east coast through the northwestern Ontario, due to the concerns it has with using trains, Landry said.

• Rail lines in poor condition caused March 2015 Gogama derailment: TSB

• Transportation Safety Board says unnoticed cracks in rail caused 2015 Gogama, Ont. train derailment

• Husky's oil pipeline broke due to ground movement, report says

"The use of oil isn't going away ... so we've always taken the perspective on the safety aspect and it's important that we keep that in mind," she said.

Now, Landry said, with Energy East effectively out of the picture, NOMA will turn to the issue of top speeds for trains carrying dangerous cargo.

"We want to be able to manage that piece and have some sort of control of how fast those trains carrying crude oil going through our municipalities," she said.

Thunder Bay city council tentatively supported Energy East earlier in 2017, citing similar safety concerns.

Elsewhere in the region, TransCanada's announcement was good news for some and disappointing for others.

"To actually hear that they're withdrawing their application is fantastic news for us," said Paul Berger, who is with the environmental group Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet, adding that his group had been opposing the project since it was announced in 2013 because offears of its impact on climate change and the local environment.

"The climate impacts of Energy East were huge," he said. "I think everybody, at this point, feels concerned about climate change and knows we need to go in a different direction."

• Energy East pipeline opposed by Anishinaabe Water Walkers

• Energy East pipeline reviewed by Thunder Bay residents

Berger said his group is opposed to pipeline development in general, as expanding that infrastructure has been cited as key to expanding oil extraction in Alberta, something he doesn't want to see.

"Stopping the pipeline means stopping that expansion which means stopping some of the dirtiest oil on the planet from being mined ... and processed at huge cost to carbon emissions," he said.

Berger also said he doesn't agree with the thinking that "oil would flow anyway and it's better in a pipeline than on rail."

He added the focus should be on the renewable energy sector and the jobs it can create.

But jobs and a projected boost to the municipal coffers is exactly what Greenstone mayor Renald Beaulieu was banking on Energy East to bring to his community, which is located about 260kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

"Very disappointed for our municipality and for all of Canada as a project," Beaulieu said of his reaction to Thursday's news. "This has been going on for awhile and I guess we've got up our hopes a few times."

Given Greenstone's proximity to the proposed route through the northwest which would have involved the conversion of existing natural gas piping to carry the bitumen Beaulieu said his community would have been home to a facility to aid in the pumping of the oil through the pipeline.

The construction would have brought temporary jobs to the area, he said and while there wouldn't be many full-time, permanent positions afterward, he said the taxes TransCanada would pay to the municipality would have helped.

"It would have been a good help for the community and for the taxpayers of Greenstone," he said.