A lot riding onTrans Mountain response: PM

• The future of resource development across Canada depends on the federal government responding correctly to a court ruling that has stalled the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, Justin Trudeau said Friday.

The government’s response is about more than just one pipeline project, the prime minister said as he took part in an “armchair discussion” at a business gathering in Ottawa.

“What we need is not just this pipeline,” Trudeau said.

“We need to be able to build resource projects of all different types with appropriate social licence.”

The Trudeau government approved the Trans Mountain expansion in November 2016, subject to dozens of conditions. But the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the approval last week, citing insufficient consultation with Indigenous communities and failure to assess the environmental impact of more tanker traffic off British Columbia’s coast.

The Conservatives and New Democrats have both blamed Trudeau for the ruling, accusing him of relying on “botched” consultations to further the pipeline project, which would transport more Alberta oilsands crude to port in B.C. for export overseas.

But Trudeau said the decision must be seen in a broader context if the government is to ensure that Trans Mountain — and other resource projects — don’t get bogged down in endless court battles in the future.

Trudeau also fired back at critics who accuse his government of being unable to get large resource projects built, pointing to one major development that has already been approved in Canada, but is facing roadblocks south of the border.

“The Keystone XL pipeline has been approved in Canada for a long time and it’s bogged down in processes in the United States because, again, there are concerns that they hadn’t done enough around consultations in partnership with communities and environmental science,” Trudeau told the gathering.

“This is the way the world is going, and if we can demonstrate clarity and certainty for business through the processes to the investors, we will be able to get more built.”

The prime minister said earlier this week that his government was looking at legislative and other options as it formulated a response to the decision, including an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.