Notley’s win less than ‘definitive’
Court rulings don’t mean a lot to lawbreakers
Arecent court ruling in British Columbia has Alberta Premier Rachel Notley convinced that construction of the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project will go ahead this year.
“That’s absolutely our timeline,” a happy Notley said on Monday.
If only it were that simple. It seems whenever one hurdle is toppled for the Trans Mountain expansion, there’s another in the way. The path ahead for the $7.4-billion project still looks more like a steeplechase than a straightaway.
Notley does have some cause for optimism, if not outright celebration.
On Friday, the Federal Court of Appeal rejected a challenge from the B.C. government regarding a ruling by the National Energy Board. The NEB had said in December Kinder Morgan could ignore the zoning bylaws of the city of Burnaby, B.C., which threatened to create unnecessary hurdles for the project. The federally approved project took precedence over Burnaby’s local tree-cutting guidelines. Besides, the city had been using those guidelines as a not-sosubtle pretext to delay construction of the pipeline.
The anti-pipeline B.C. government asked for leave to challenge the NEB ruling. The court said no.
“The Federal Court of Appeal actually didn’t even grant leave to appeal,” Notley said. “So, it wasn’t that we won the decision, it was that the Federal Court of Appeal said they weren’t even going to hear it. So, it was a pretty definitive victory for the pipeline and for the people of Alberta and for Canada.”
It’s a definitive victory in that it slapped down the government of B.C. and civic officials in Burnaby. And, as Notley pointed out, it’s a reminder that the courts have routinely sided with Alberta and the Kinder Morgan project.
Although it might be a definitive victory, it is not the definitive victory.
Notley is still hoping that will come this spring in the form of a go-ahead from the Federal Court of Appeal, which held two weeks of hearings into the project last October.
In the meantime, all she can do is sound positive, repeatedly declare the pipeline will be built, and take shots at anti-pipeline politicians in B.C. whenever she gets the opportunity.
On Monday, her target was Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, an outspoken critic of the project. He has vowed not to cover the policing costs for dealing with protests at the Kinder Morgan facility in his city.
Even though the RCMP is the local police force and even though the city is responsible for the costs of local policing, Corrigan wants Ottawa to pay the bill because the federal government approved the pipeline project.
It is a ridiculous — never mind petulant and perversely political — position to take on a matter of law enforcement and public safety.
“Quite frankly, I think the mayor of Burnaby is stumbling into some pretty irresponsible areas,” Notley said. “If he were allowed to carry on that path, it’s a very, very slippery slope towards political interference in the administration of justice.”
Indeed — but the antipipeline forces don’t seem interested in the administration of justice. If the courts won’t stop the project, they will, even if it means defying a court injunction against interfering with the Kinder Morgan facility in Burnaby. (About 200 people have been arrested in the past week.)
That’s the lopsided battle Notley faces.
Notley and Kinder Morgan may well get the definitive win this spring if the Federal Court of Appeal green-lights the Trans Mountain project. The problem is they can win every constitutional argument and court battle, but it doesn’t get shovels in the ground if protesters have chained themselves to the shovels.
Notley announced last year the pipeline would be under construction by the end of 2017. Now she says construction will start by the end of 2018. That’s not just a deadline for the pipeline, it’s arguably a deadline for her own political fate.