Ottawa set to overhaul process for pipeline approvals
Alberta had yet to receive any word Thursday afternoon from British Columbia over the pipeline spat that has escalated into a wine boycott.
As tension between the two provinces continued to simmer, the federal government announced an overhaul of the environmental assessment tools for pipeline approvals. And the federal environment minister spoke to the environment ministers of both Alberta and B.C. Thursday to clarify issues of jurisdiction.
Major new energy projects will have to be assessed and either approved or denied within two years under a massive new national assessment bill being introduced in the House of Commons.
Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said it will provide clarity and certainty about how the process works, what companies need to do, and why and how decisions are made.
She said the new system will help improve certainty to attract investments and prevent the polarization of sides and legal battles such as those currently affecting the Trans Mountain pipeline project at the heart of the Alberta-B.C. battle.
McKenna says she made separate phone calls Thursday morning to Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips and B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman to make clear that the federal government had clear authority to approve the Trans Mountain project and will exert that authority to make sure it gets built.
A spokeswoman for McKenna said that the minister made clear the federal government won’t stand down and allow a provincial government to infringe on Ottawa’s constitutional authority to decide about interprovincial infrastructure projects such as pipelines.
McKenna said Canada is not wading into the trade dispute but is working to get the pipeline built. She said the prime minister has also called the premiers and her deputy minister is in B.C. right now working on the file.
Alberta Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd said in an emailed statement Thursday that the provincial government has begun consulting with the industry to fully understand the impact of the pending new federal legislation.
“From our drillers and producers to those working in our restaurants and hotels, Albertans from all walks of life are counting on the federal government to get this right,” she said.
“Our priority is to ensure the federal regulatory changes are implemented in a way that makes sense for working people and provides greater certainty for investors.”
United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney was less circumspect. Speaking with media in Ottawa Thursday, he called on the feds to put the brakes on the changes, saying they will make pipeline approvals more difficult.
“This is another blow to Canada’s job-creating energy industry which has been responsible for much of Canada’s wealth and growth over the past decades,” he said. “This is the worst possible news at the worst time for Canada’s energy industry.”