Project hinges on consent of all affected First Nations

McCuaig- Boyd said she remains confident the Trans Mountain pipeline between Alberta and the B. C. coast “will be built in good time, which will be very good for Alberta and for Canada.”

But she also said good regulatory reforms are needed to avoid scaring away investors.

“We don’t want it to be so overlapped that what we do in Alberta is being duplicated federally, and then it’s way too long and leaves those people behind,” she said.

Carr said Ottawa continues to support Trans Mountain, which it approved last year.

“Ninety nine per cent of Canadian exports of oil and gas go to the U. S.” he said. “That means we have to expand our export markets, and our most obvious expansion is to Asia. There is this insatiable appetite for Canadian product.”

But the pipeline project is before the Federal Court of Appeal in B.C., where the provincial government, municipalities, Aboriginal communities are challenging its permit.

Michelle Mungall, B. C.’s energy minister, said any resource decision needs the consent of all First Nations, “and as it stands right now with the Trans Mountain pipeline, they don’t have 100 per cent from all First Nations who have been impacted.”

“First Nations in the Lower Mainland have expressed opposition to this pipeline, and so it’s incumbent on the feds to be working with First Nations in terms of what their concerns are, rather than just barrelling through,” Mungall told reporters. “It’s not appro- priate in this day and age and that is why B.C. is in court.”

She would not say whether full consent is required from First Nations on the pipeline route, or throughout B.C., or in the Lower Mainland.

“We have jurisprudence on that,” she said. “We have treaty rights on this and we have a lot of legalities on this.”

Mungall said her government remains supportive of the liquefied natural gas sector, which she said through exports can help Asian economies reduce their dependence on coal and cut carbon emissions.

While two major LNG projects were cancelled since the election of her NDP government, Mungall blamed the decisions on low commodity prices and said the LNG industry remains alive in her province. “Different projects have different details,” she said to reporters. “We are also addressing B.C.’s competitiveness issues. We are working with industry. We are working with B.C. communities about competitiveness and what needs to be done.”