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Trans-Canada Pipeline: Feat and fury

Broadcast Date: Dec. 16, 1973

With the economy booming and the support for the Liberals strong, St-Laurent makes a bold move. Hoping to meet the energy needs of Ontario and Quebec with the abundance of natural gas in Alberta, St-Laurent and his Minister of Trade and Commerce, C.D. Howe, propose the construction of a pipeline from Alberta to the St. Lawrence River. Howe's shining moment of May 1956, the ensuing debate and an emotion-laden dissent is captured in this clip. It is not hard to see why many believe the pipeline project proved St-Laurent and his Liberal party's undoing.

Trans-Canada Pipeline: Feat and fury

• In order to begin construction of the Trans-Canada pipeline, Howe asked the government for $80 million. Due to the heavy backing of U.S. private capital, he made an additional request for a commitment to guarantee the investment. The opposition parties, sensing the Americans would eventually try and take over the entire project, defiantly opposed any level of U.S involvement.

• Opposition parties implemented a number of delay tactics, hoping the Liberals would miss their deadline. For three weeks the debates and filibusters continued with no end in sight. Finally, desperate to close a deal in time to meet their timeline, the Liberals enforced closure to ensure an immediate vote. The move infuriated many.

• The debate in Parliament was long, fierce and shook the strong support upon which St-Laurent depended since he rose to power. And the so-called victory over the Pipeline debate was short lived. In the upcoming election, the Progressive Conservatives used the issue to convince voters of the rise in Liberal arrogance – and of the need for change.

• Years later, St-Laurent continued to defend his decision to build the pipeline, despite the dissent it created. "I didn't like the debate but I did like the objective," he remarked. That objective, he continued, was "to get a new industry started that would provide additional jobs for the labour force."

Trans-Canada Pipeline: Feat and fury

Medium: Television

Program: The Days Before Yesterday

Broadcast Date: Dec. 16, 1973

Guest(s): M.J. Coldwell, George Drew, C.D. Howe, Lester B. Pearson, Louis St-Laurent, Dr. Dale Thomson

Narrator: Bruce Hutchison

Duration: 3:37

Writer: Brian Nolan

Last updated:
Sept. 5, 2008