Pipeline ruling shakes central pillar of Liberals’ agenda
OTTAWA — On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau painstakingly explained to students in Kapuskasing, Ont., how the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project is a central pillar of his government’s agenda.
Less than 24 hours later, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the government’s approval of the project, imperilling the pillar holding up Trudeau’s signature promise to tackle climate change by balancing economic growth and environmental protection.
Moreover, it underscored a gap between rhetoric and action when it comes to Trudeau’s oftstated vow to make reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples his top priority.
The court found that the National Energy Board’s environmental assessment of the project was fatally flawed because it ignored the potential impact of increased tanker traffic off British Columbia’s coast. It also ruled that the federal government had not fulfilled its duty to meaningfully consult with affected Indigenous groups.
“For over a year and a half, Canadians have waited for Trudeau to come up with a concrete plan to ensure this pipeline project is completed,” said Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.
“Instead, he offered one delay after another, and the ruling today shows that he couldn’t even carry out his own government’s consultation process. He has now left Canadian taxpayers on the hook for a pipeline that he isn’t allowed to build, jeopardizing jobs and investment at the same time as our economy faces the uncertainty of NAFTA re-negotiations, tax hikes, and Liberal deficits.”
Finance Minister Bill Morneau insisted the government is still “absolutely committed” to completing the $4.5-billion purchase of the project from Kinder Morgan – as early as Friday – and ensuring that the expansion is eventually built to carry Alberta’s oilsands bitumen to tidewater.
He did not rule out appealing the court ruling. But he appeared inclined to accept the court’s suggested remedy: order the energy board to redo its environmental assessment and redo the government’s own consultations with Indigenous Peoples, both of which the court said could be tightly focused and completed relatively quickly.
At a minimum, however, that would mean more delay and increased uncertainty about whether the project will ever actually be built.
“They just don’t know what they’re doing. They have no idea how they’re actually going to get this project built,” said Scheer.
Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Perrin Beatty said the ruling “sends a profoundly negative message to investors both here at home and around the world about Canada’s regulatory system and our ability to get things done even after the federal government has declared them to be in the national interest.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and a host of environmental and aboriginal groups all called on the federal government to admit defeat and cancel the project.
“Climate leaders don’t buy or expand pipelines,” said Singh, adding that the government should “consider all legal options” to cancel the pipeline purchase.