ABSTRACT
The key interests involved in the tcpl conflict were the initially competing pipeline companies which later combined into tcpl, Gulf Oil Corporation, the federal Liberal government—then entering its third consecutive decade in power—the opposition parties, in particular the Tories, and the governments of Alberta and Ontario. The relationship of Trans-Canada and the federal Liberal government is also revealing. Partisan interests also conflicted in a major way as a result of the Trans-Canada. It is generally acknowledged that the Liberal government’s performance in, and treatment of, Parliament during the Pipeline Debate contributed directly to its defeat by the Conservatives in 1957. The Borden Commission’s entry into new energy policy vacuum meant that it could not help but have a significant impact on Canadian energy politics. The original Syncrude consortium and the governments of Canada, Alberta and Ontario were the key interests involved in shaping the outcome of the issue.
