The CEO of federally owned Trans Mountain Corp., Mark Maki, says Canada is “on the cusp of something very important” with the proposal to build a new bitumen pipeline to the West Coast. 

Earlier this year, the Carney government tasked the Crown corporation with building the line in partnership with Alberta and, with a 10 per cent stake, Pembina Pipeline Corp. 

While speaking at a Canada 2020 event in Ottawa Tuesday, Maki acknowledged the “tiptoeing” by private capital around the proposal, but said he can see and feel the interest, “like old familiar faces are back.”

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He said with the national interest designation under the Building Canada Act coming down Thursday, his first task will be to go out in the field and meet with First Nations along the route. 

“The Nations benefitted from the last project [Trans Mountain], and they will benefit from this one,” he said. 

Maki defended Finance Canada’s recent offer of a collective 15 per cent stake in Trans Mountain to First Nations. Some have expressed disappointment, noting that Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government floated figures as high as 100 per cent when it was courting Indigenous support for the project amid heated opposition.

Maki said the 15 per cent offer aligns with other transactions in the oil pipeline space. 

“This is a meaningful amount of ownership in a very big and critical piece of infrastructure,” he said.

Asked if he thinks Trans Mountain should be sold to the private sector, Maki laughed and joked, “you’re going to get me in trouble.” 

He reiterated what he told a House committee years ago, about how the federal government should be a “patient seller,” and reap the rewards of the risk it took on when it bought the line in 2018. 

He said there is a good case for Canadian taxpayers to retain a majority ownership stake because it is a long and very certain cash flow in a strategic business.

Trans Mountain recently began running at capacity and settled a tolling dispute with its shippers. Maki says new projects to boost capacity are underway, and shippers have shown a lot of interest in signing on. The company plans to invite shippers to bid for space on the expanded system later this year.

READ MORE: Regulator approves Trans Mountain tolls as company eyes new West Coast pipeline