Federal government ready to move against B.C. threat
Carr: ‘We will take the necessary action’
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr says the government will not entertain any attempts by British Columbia to stall or stop the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
“If that is the goal of any province, we will take the necessary action to ensure that federally approved resource projects proceed,” Carr said Monday. When asked if that includes taking B.C. to court, he said
Canada has
“all kinds of options” to exert its constitutional authority over interprovincial pipelines.
Federal officials, ministers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have been negotiating with Alberta and B.C. for almost two weeks now, ever since B.C. launched a consultation asking its residents whether the province should ban any increase in oil flows through pipelines within the province pending further research on the impact of an oil spill.
Such a ban would kill the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which was given federal approval in November 2016 and would triple capacity of a line that already runs between Edmonton and Vancouver.
B.C. hasn’t yet enacted such a ban, which limits the legal options for Ottawa to fight back.
“All British Columbia has tangibly done at this point is signal its intention to consult with the people of its province,” said Carr.
Ottawa has constitutional jurisdiction over interprovincial infrastructure, such as highways, pipelines and electricity grids. Alberta wants the pipeline, but the B.C. NDP government elected last year campaigned on a promise to use “every tool in the toolbox” to fight it.
Shannon Stubbs, federal Conservative natural resources critic, is not as convinced as Notley that Ottawa is doing everything it can to get the pipeline built.
She introduced an opposition motion in the House of Commons on Monday calling on the federal government to make public no later than Feb. 15, its specific plan to get the pipeline built.