Financing, lawsuits among feds’ options for Trans Mountain, says Carr
A federal investment in the Trans Mountain pipeline is one of the possibilities the Liberal government is considering to help get the controversial project completed, says Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says her province is prepared to invest in the pipeline directly if it would help keep investors on board — a notion her opposition rival, United Conservative party Leader Jason Kenney, says he would support as long as Ottawa also puts money on the table.
Opposition from British Columbia, including a threat to pass regulations that would prevent additional oil flows through the province, spooked Trans Mountain investors enough that Kinder Morgan called a halt Sunday to all nonessential spending on the project.
The company would be open to government investment if it brought certainty to the project, CEO Steve Kean said Monday.
Carr isn’t saying that a federal investment is a certainty, only that it is among the options on the table, along with legal and regulatory manoeuvres.
“We’re looking at all available options,’’ Carr said, without getting into specifics.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dodged the question of federal investment during a news conference in Montreal, saying only there is a “broad range of options’’ for Ottawa to consider.
Trudeau said he had “a long conversation’’ with B.C. Premier John Horgan by phone Sunday night and said he doesn’t think Horgan should be intervening in an area of federal jurisdiction.
“I impressed upon him the importance of working together and respecting the federal responsibility for protecting things that are in the national interest,’’ Trudeau said. “This is a pipeline in the national interest and it will get built.’’
The federal government has jurisdiction over infrastructure that crosses provincial borders, including highways and pipelines. Trans Mountain runs between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C., and the expansion, approved by Ottawa in November 2016, would triple its capacity.
Conservative MP Chris Warkentin says Trudeau should immediately demand a meeting with Horgan if he is really serious about getting the pipeline built. The MP says he wouldn’t oppose government investments in projects like this, but said he’s not hearing the company ask for handouts.
Rather, says Warkentin, Kinder Morgan wants government to solve the political impasse.
B.C. says it is going to ask the courts to decide if it can legally regulate against increased oil flows through pipelines. Alberta and the federal government insist it cannot. Horgan says he will frame a question to the court to decide the issue.
Canada considered asking the Supreme Court for a jurisdictional ruling earlier this year, but opted not to because it would have implied there was doubt about jurisdiction, when federal officials say there is none.