‘IT WILL BE BUILT’

Notley says pipeline project won’t be halted by B.C. political changes

With British Columbia’s NDP and Greens vowing to bring the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to a halt, Premier Rachel Notley wants everyone to mark her words: the project will go ahead to deliver Alberta’s oil to the West Coast.

The premier said she does not believe it makes much difference who is running B.C., because the federal government has already approved the Kinder Morgan project.

“The decision has been taken,” she said Tuesday when asked about the pipeline. “It’s been taken by the federal government.

“And mark my words: that pipeline will be built. The decisions have been made . . . There may be debate but, at the end of the day, we’re quite confident in the strength of our position.”

The future of the $7.4-billion pipeline, which would nearly triple the capacity of an existing line running from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., is in question given a co-operation agreement between the B.C. New Democrats and Greens that’s expected to lead to an NDP minority government.

An NDP-Green pact formalized Tuesday promises to “immediately employ every tool available” to stop the Trans Mountain expansion.

Notley said her government will continue to advocate for a project that’s in the best interests of Albertans and all Canadians — but especially to British Columbians.

“Quite honestly, the province of B.C. can’t grow solely on the basis of escalating housing prices in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. They need stronger economic growth and the reality is that in Interior B.C., they need the jobs that this pipeline will provide,” she said.

Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Greens, called Notley’s comments “classic fearmongering.”

He was blunt in his rejection of future fossil fuel infrastructure in the province, saying promised jobs from the energy sector haven’t happened, citing the B.C. Liberals’ promise of a liquefied natural gas industry.

“I think British Columbians, quite frankly, are sick and tired of being told that the 20th century economy is the economy of tomorrow,” Weaver told a news conference alongside B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan.

“We’ve heard this before — 100,000 jobs in (liquefied natural gas), $100-billion prosperity fund, $1-trillion increase in GDP, elimination of the PST, debt-free B.C. Unicorns in all our backyards.”

Weaver also challenged Notley’s assertion there’s nothing B.C. can do to stop the federally approved Trans Mountain project.

“There’s an awful lot that can be done in British Columbia to stop the shipping of diluted bitumen in our coastal waters,” he said, pointing specifically to the rights of First Nations.

In Rome, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau re-affirmed his government’s support for the pipeline, which he said remains in the national interest.

“The decision we took on the Trans Mountain pipeline was based on facts and evidence,” Trudeau said Tuesday. “Regardless of a change in government in British Columbia, or anywhere, the facts and evidence do not change.”

Hilary Novik, an analyst at political risk consultancy the Eurasia Group, said British Columbia could join legal challenges, while there’s also the risk that the position held by a minority NDP government could enable more protests.

“A risk we’re watching is just how an antagonistic government could increase the level of civil disobedience against the project, and that could be a real risk to construction and threaten more delays for Kinder Morgan,” said Novik.

“It’s really going to test Kinder Morgan’s resolve to move forward with the project against the heightened risk of delays.”

In news releases Tuesday, both the Wildrose and Progressive Conservatives attacked the B.C. Greens and NDP, but reserved their heaviest fire for Notley over what they said was a failed strategy to win “social licence” for Alberta pipelines.

Notley has attempted to square the circle in the pipeline debate by linking pipeline development to environmental action. Alberta’s NDP government has introduced an ambitious climate-change strategy that includes a carbon tax introduced this year, a cap on oilsands emissions and an accelerated phase-out of coal-fired power.