Mr. Hearn, speaking to reporters after a speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, said Imperial won't proceed with the Northwest Territories project unless Ottawa agrees to amendments to the fiscal arrangements that would apply to the project.
However, he said Imperial was not asking for handouts.
Imperial has been pressing Ottawa for more financial incentives, even after the government said in the summer it is willing to pony up $500-million to get the stalled project moving. Imperial, majority owned by the world's biggest public oil company, Exxon Mobil Corp. of Irving, Tex., wants breaks on matters such as royalty payments.
It's fair enough that the project earlier ran into problems not of Imperial's making due to native land claims. But it seems clear that "an amendment to the fiscal arrangements" (which were apparently previously agreed to) that results in a "break" for Imperial would be pretty much the definition of a handout.
Meanwhile, a project with the potential to help develop a good chunk of Canada's north is in limbo - even as the underlying asset gains a ton of value, presumably helping Imperial's coffers as well. We can only hope the parties involved will work through their differences to get something done...but it might help if they'd at least admit to what they're asking for out of the process.
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