The government owned Trans Mountain Pipeline experienced a serious spill over the weekend

The government will be investigating the spill on this government owned and government regulated pipeline. 

Trans Mountain is owned by the government because government regulation forced its previous owner, Kinder Morgan, to abandon the pipeline it was attempting to expand.

The stated purpose of government regulation is to protect the environment from things like oil spills, something industry is not considered capable of preventing by itself. 

Government does not believe industry is able to self-regulate.

Now that a significant spill has occurred on the government's own pipeline, it does not appear government is able to self-regulate, either.

So why does government regulate at all?

How can government be trusted to regulate industry if it cannot even regulate itself?

How can the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) be trusted when it is government regulation itself that drives pipelines out of private ownership and into government hands?

This incident is an example of why CAEPLA has been warning of the perils of both government regulation and government ownership of energy transport.

Ottawa is in an absurd conflict of interest with the Trans Mountain Pipeline and expansion project.

The pipeline must be sold to private investors immediately to prevent more spills like this one, and to put a stop to already spiralling budget overruns on the project.

But that's not all.

Ottawa needs to get out of the business of regulating pipelines altogether.  It needs to restore the discipline of the market, insurance industry, and courts to the energy transport sector.

BLOOMBERG