Alberta lifts wine ban as B.C. blinks
Threat to restrict bitumen off table, as Horgan seeks direction of court
Alberta is popping the cork on B.C. wine, with the province lifting a ban imposed in defence of the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
“What triggered the dispute . . . is the notion that the B.C. government could enact legislation of what goes into an interprovincial pipeline,” Premier Rachel Notley told a Thursday news conference.
“The B.C. government has indicated they will not move forward on that threat.”
Notley was responding to comments by B.C. Premier John Horgan, who said his government is changing the five-point plan that sparked the issue. On Jan. 30, B.C. announced it would develop regulations to better protect the environment from oil spills.
The fifth point proposed restricting increases in bitumen shipments until more spill studies are completed — a move that prompted Alberta’s boycott on B.C. wine.
“We’re proceeding with four points that are not contentious,” Horgan told a news conference earlier Thursday.
Horgan said his government is filing a constitutional reference case on the issue. He said the federal government declined an invitation to join the province in the reference question.
“I believe we have the jurisdiction to proceed in all five areas, and we’ll test that fifth area,” he said.
“This is not about politics, this is not about trade ... It’s about the right of British Columbians to have a government that will stand up for its interests.”
In the meantime, Horgan said B.C. will not proceed with proposed regulatory restrictions on the increase of diluted bitumen transportation.
The other four areas in B.C.’s plan involve response times to clean up spills, regulations for marine spills, response plans for sensitive geographic areas and compensation for the loss of cultural or public land.
But Notley said B.C. stepped back from the brink.
“They’ve agreed ... to go to the court. We are not particularly concerned about the outcome of that.”
She warned the Alberta government has other defences in its arsenal — “if it becomes clear that this action is in fact part of a deliberate strategy to harass the pipeline and its investors with frivolous or unconstitutional legal challenges, we will act immediately.”
Alberta’s Opposition said the NDP government shouldn’t let up on the pressure.
“It’s clear that the B.C. NDP has not changed its hostility to the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion,” United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney said in a statement Thursday. “Instead, they are continuing to inject uncertainty into this critically important project.”
Notley and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have made it clear that only Ottawa, not the provinces, has the authority to decide what goes in trans-boundary pipelines.
Trudeau said the project’s goahead is in Canada’s national interest and reiterated his support on a recent cross-country speaking tour.
Federal officials have been meeting with their B.C. counterparts to find a solution to the impasse. Notley, who had also scuttled talks to buy B.C. electricity, had been threatening further retaliatory action.
This is not about politics, this is not about trade ... It’s about the right of British Columbians to have a government that will stand up for its interests.