Moe wants Ottawa to bear down on B.C.

Premier Scott Moe wants the federal government to “take up residence” in B.C. to get Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project built.

Speaking from a meeting of Western premiers in Yellowknife on Wednesday, Saskatchewan’s premier said meeting with his B.C. counterpart — John Horgan — created an “opportunity to engage” with the head of a provincial government opposed to the project.

Saskatchewan appears to be a minor player in the ongoing pipeline debate. The wealthier, more populated and oil-rich province of Alberta is leading the charge against B.C., with Saskatchewan cast in a supporting role.

Moe also continues to call on the federal government to step in and force the project forward.

Kinder Morgan, prompted by the B.C. government’s opposition to the project, set an end-of-May deadline for mothballing the pipeline unless political interferences are settled.

Saskatchewan’s premier says he remains “cautiously optimistic” the project will go forward, but he continues to have concerns over how the federal government is engaging with Horgan.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley chose not to attend the meetings. Instead deputy premier Sarah Hoffman went in her place.

Horgan said Wednesday he “didn’t feel any pressure” at the meetings over the pipeline debate.

“Of course, Alberta had their opinion and I respect that, but no one else pressured me to do anything other than make my views known at the table,” he said.

Horgan and Moe, along with the leaders of Manitoba, Nunavut, Yukon and Northwest Territories emerged with a joint communique prioritizing key inter-provincial issues, but Alberta refused to sign because it did not contain stronger language in support of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

“We had one key issue of importance that we were here to discuss; unfortunately we didn’t get consensus on that item,” said Hoffman.

Ottawa has promised to cover the costs associated with political delays for Kinder Morgan, or another private company that wants to build the pipeline, but Moe wants the federal government to put a plan in place to ensure construction can begin and continue until the expansion is finished.

Moe said that plan needs to include measures to “deal with civil disobedience if that should occur.”

He was hoping to kick-start a conversation about how the federal government can be more engaged in the file while meeting with Western premiers, and he said Wednesday “I hope we have” done so. With the deadline looming closer and closer, Moe said he thinks Kinder Morgan is serious about pulling out of the project.

“I think we have a company that is very serious about this project and very serious about the risks as they perceive them with respect to starting construction of this project,” he said.