Some issues are more important than politics
Amarjeet Sohi calls long path leading to final nod for TMX the right choice
On July 2, by upholding the February decision of the Federal Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Canada effectively ended a long saga of legal battles the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project faced. The ruling is good for Alberta and Canada. It provides investment stability for resource development and a roadmap for future Indigenous consultations. I am grateful that the highest court in our country has validated the work done by my team and me at Natural Resources Canada.
I have always believed that TMX is a vital infrastructure to diversify our oil markets, reduce our dependency on the U.S, and get a fair market price for our oil. Having lived in Alberta for 35 years, I have seen and experienced the role of natural resources in our prosperity.
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed me Minister of Natural Resources in July of 2018, I felt honoured by the opportunity to get this project to the finish line. With the energy sector under strain, I had a chance to make things better for the people I represent.
When the Federal Court of Appeal overturned our approval of the TMX project on August 30, 2018, it felt as if someone had punched me in the gut. We never expected to lose in court. Government lawyers were confident that we had met our duty to consult. But according to the judges, federal representatives at the original consultation process were just “note-takers” who had failed to engage in a meaningful way with Indigenous communities.
The decision of the Federal Court of Appeal was devastating to the already struggling energy sector. Simmering frustration reached a boiling point, further straining relations between Alberta and Ottawa. I never witnessed such anger in my 12 years of public service.
Following the ruling, I made a commitment to fix a broken system put in place by the previous government. It served no one. Projects were not moving ahead, Indigenous communities had no faith in it, and it fell short of protecting the environment and the public interest. I felt we owed it to Canadians, but particularly to Albertans and Indigenous communities, to get it right. We set out to do things differently.
Digging deeper into the consultation record, I saw where we had failed. Issues that could have easily been accommodated, such as the protection of burial grounds and cultural sites, were ignored. Consultations with Indigenous communities were seen as formalities, rather than opportunities to build consensus.
When we re-engaged, we did so with open minds and without predetermined outcomes. Respect, transparency, and commitment to due process were paramount. We needed more than dialogue — we needed action to resolve legitimate concerns.
This process was not easy. We were subjected to political pressure from Conservative politicians, particularly Jason Kenney and Andrew Scheer, and organizations like the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. They wanted us to hurry along the process. But we did not waver. Our goal was to do things the right way and avoid the mistakes that sunk the original approval.
We engaged the Honourable Frank Iacobucci, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, to advise on the consultation process to ensure that our government met its constitutional obligations. He held roundtables to gather input: I personally took the time to visit more than 60 Indigenous communities to understand their concerns and build personal relationships.
To do more than just listen, we empowered our negotiating teams with authority to offer accommodations. We also created an informal cabinet committee of all implicated ministries to regularly update and co-ordinate our work. This collective response was extremely effective — we were no longer working in silos.
I am proud of what we accomplished, even if it took more time. Doing the right thing probably cost me re-election. But some issues are bigger than politics, and this was one of them. The path we followed was necessary to show that good projects can move forward, and that meeting our obligations to Indigenous peoples can be fulfilled with an honest effort.
The path we took also shows that political edicts are not a substitute for due process. This week’s U.S Supreme court decision to refuse construction of Keystone XL pipeline reinforces that inescapable fact.
Amarjeet Sohi was the minister of natural resources and led the Trudeau government’s Indigenous consultation process on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. He currently works as a senior adviser at ALAR Strategy Group.