U.S. to Canada: All your sovereignty (and pipelines) are belong to us.

Things appear to be getting a bit heated in the competition to build the Alaska gas pipeline:

TransCanada Corp. [TCC] launched a counterattack yesterday against pipeline rival Enbridge Inc. over who gets to build the US$20-billion Alaska gas pipeline...

Construction of the proposed pipeline has become a controversial issue in Canada because the Canadian government is under pressure to decide whether it will continue to support the NPA or whether it will allow a new project regulated under the National Energy Board, effectively allowing competitors to come forward with competing proposals.

And given the fact that the proposed pipeline would, in large part, pass through Canada's Yukon Territory and British Columbia, how do TCC's competitors justify getting their hands on the business?

Enbridge and Alaska producers, ExxonMobil Corp., BP PLC and ConocoPhillips, escalated their lobbying efforts in recent weeks asking Ottawa to open the process to competition.

What a novel idea -- having a genuinely open, competitive bidding process. What a truly American concept. You know, getting advice from Americans on the merits of fair business practices is like getting lectured by the Catholic Church on child care.