Government of Canada to buy Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion

Finance Minister Bill Morneau has announced that the Government of Canada will buy Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion.

Morneau says that is the only way to ensure the project goes ahead.

That price tag doesn't include what could be billions of dollars in construction costs, or the costs of cleaning up a spill.

Bill Morneau implicated that the Liberal Party government would likely go ahead with the proposed expansion project, whose costs would be offset via a toll on pipeline users, an "emergency fund" being prepared by Alberta, as well as a plan to eventually re-sell it to outside investors (such as indigenous groups and pension funds) in the future.

Kinder Morgan, Inc. is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America. The company specializes in owning and controlling oil and gas pipelines and terminals.