Trudeau battles crude politics

Given that feuds between neighbours are often the nastiest, Justin Trudeau would probably rather sidestep the messy oil-pipeline battle brewing between Alberta and British Columbia.

Unfortunately the prime minister can’t — and not just because he pledged last week to “ensure” Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain “pipeline gets built.”

Trudeau has no choice but to translate his words into action.

B.C.’s attempt to stop this vital project violates Canada’s Constitution, threatens its economy, damages its efforts to fight climate change and is tearing holes in the fabric of national unity.

As it stands today, Trans Mountain has the go-ahead from the National Energy Board and approval from Trudeau’s cabinet.

The company has in every way respected the legal and environmental processes Canada put in place.

But that means nothing to B.C. Premier John Horgan, whose NDP minority government needs the support of the three Green Party members in the provincial legislature.

Greens and pipelines, suffice to say, mix like oil and water.

And so last week, Horgan’s government announced plans to block the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion.

The province would do this by passing new oil-spill regulations designed to stop increased volumes of Alberta oilsands crude from being moved through B.C.

And that — hopefully from Horgan’s perspective — would be the death-knell for the Trans Mountain.

It could also sound the death-knell for Premier Rachel Notley’s NDP government in Alberta, next door.

Notley staked her political survival by promising Albertans she’d balance her costly plans to battle climate change with new pipelines to ship Alberta’s crude to international markets.

No wonder Notley came out swinging against B.C. last week, threatening legal and economic retaliation that includes suspending talks to buy B.C’s electricity.

All this leaves Trudeau between the Rocky Mountains and a hard place.

If he tramples B.C.’s concerns, he could sacrifice key B.C. ridings in the 2019 federal election.

But he can’t abandon Premier Notley, even though the federal Liberals hold few Alberta seats. Trudeau must stand up for, and beside, Alberta. He must act for the sake of Canada’s economy: We need to get our natural resources to market. Canadian crude prices are suffering because we lack the pipeline capacity to do that.

Thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in oil revenue for governments depend on new pipelines.

But this isn’t just about money. Trudeau must act for the sake of his federal climate-change plan, which he sold to Westerners by promising pipelines would go forward.

He must act to head off a dangerous rift in our federation between B.C. and Alberta.

And Trudeau must also act in defence of the Constitution.

Clearly, when it comes to controlling Canada’s coastlines and approving pipelines, the federal government is constitutionally supreme.

Having declared his intentions, Trudeau must act quickly.

Could he serve as an honest arbitrator between the two provinces? Could a compromise be found?

Perhaps. But if not, the prime minister should spearhead a court challenge to B.C.’s plans.

In his own words, it’s essential this “pipeline gets built.”