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Second, the tolling agreement is for 30 years, with no possibility of termination.

Third, the shoe factory owner has taken your tolling agreement to a bank, who has agreed to lend 80 per cent of the capital cost of the shoe factory. The bank clearly understands that you have a 30-year commitment to all interest and principal financing costs.

Then, the shoe factory owner asks for more financial assistance because the capital cost for the factory has doubled, and he won’t put any more of his money into the project. The bank will not lend more, so you must lend an amount equal to 10 per cent of the capital cost. This surprises you, but you have no choice, or the shoe factory will not be completed.

Next, you discover you have to pay a percentage return on the equity invested by the shoe factory operator (10 per cent up to 2014, five per cent after that). You also discover that this return has been accruing since the day it was advanced, much like unpaid interest on debt accrues on a mortgage.

It gets worse. The shoe factory owner informs you that the startup of the factory has been delayed. You have no choice but to accept this.

Finally, you must start paying the debt charges as of June 1, 2018, even though the shoe factory is not operating or even never operates.

This is in effect the arrangement between the government of Alberta (through the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission or APMC) and the NWR Sturgeon Refinery. APMC has 75 per cent of the tolling agreement, and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has the other 25 per cent. The latest cost estimate is $9.7 billion (up from $4 billion in 2008), and the latest estimate of startup is the fourth quarter of 2018 (delayed from the original estimate of 2016).