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When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced approval of the Trans Mountain project, he said the expansion “will create 15,000 new, middle-class jobs – the majority of them in the trades.”

Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr repeatedly points to this figure to justify Ottawa’s approval. He says, “the project is expected to create 15,000 new jobs during construction.”

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Alberta Premier Notley relies on it too. “Initially we’re looking at about 15,000 jobs.” Former B.C. premier Christy Clark said, “And then there’s Kinder Morgan, 15,000 new jobs.”

When the figure of “15,000” for new construction jobs emerged, I was confused.

Kinder Morgan had told the National Energy Board that construction employment for the project was an average of 2,500 workers a year, for two years. It was laid out in detail in Volume 5B of the proponent’s application.

Why would elected officials promote a construction jobs figure six times Kinder Morgan’s actual number?