Saskatchewan seeks standing in B.C. pipeline case

Saskatchewan is seeking intervener status in British Columbia’s reference case over the flow of heavy oil through that province.

The B.C. government is asking that province’s Court of Appeal to rule on a province’s ability to limit the flow of oil in hopes it will bring some end to an ongoing debate over jurisdictional powers in the regulation of energy products in pipelines.

Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government is on the opposite end of the debate, arguing the flow of products — including bitumen — is under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

“We’re intervening on this case because British Columbia is putting forward a reference case that says they have the opportunity to determining whether those pipelines should be constructed across our provincial borders,” said Moe on Wednesday. “We feel that’s in the federal jurisdiction, the federal responsibility.” The latest move in the pipeline wars comes while Saskatchewan has put forth its own question to the courts about whether the federal government can impose a carbon tax on some provinces and not others.

For four months, the B.C. government has talked about regulating bitumen inflows from pipelines. Much of that is part of the provincial government’s continued opposition to the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion project, which would significantly increase the amount of bitumen flowing into B.C. to the Pacific coast.

Moe has long been critical of the federal government’s inability to get Kinder Morgan’s project built since it has been approved by the national regulator.

That point was reiterated Wednesday, when Saskatchewan announced it was seeking standing in B.C.’s court case.

“We are dismayed that a pipeline that will benefit many people across Canada continues to be held up by unreasonable delays,” Justice Minister and Attorney- General Don Morgan said in a statement.

John Horgan, the NDP premier of B.C., argues his government should be able to protect the Pacific coast from oil spills. His government’s main concern is a lack of information about how diluted bitumen behaves if spilled in a marine environment, as well as how — or if — it can be cleaned up. Others contend huge oil tankers have to navigate narrow passages to get from the terminal to open ocean.