Ottawa loses key Trans Mountain court case, but pushes ahead

VANCOUVER (CP) — A court has overturned Ottawa’s approval of the contentious Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, halting construction on the project and sending the government back to the review phase to examine the impacts of tanker traffic and consult more deeply with First Nations.

The decision from the Federal Court of Appeal came on the same day that Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. shareholders voted 99 per cent in favour of selling the pipeline and expansion project to the Canadian government for $4.5 billion, not including construction costs that could be as high as $9.3 billion.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau pledged to push ahead with his government’s purchase and said the decisions from the court and Kinder Morgan shareholders are important steps in getting the project built in “the right way for the benefit of all Canadians.”

“Our government remains committed to ensuring the project proceeds in a manner that protects the public interest,” he said in Toronto.

“It means upholding our commitments with Indigenous Peoples and it means responsibly protecting Canada’s and Canadians’ investment.”

In a unanimous decision by a panel of three judges released Thursday, the court said the National Energy Board’s review of the proposal was so flawed that the federal government could not rely on it as a basis for its decision to approve the expansion.

The fatal flaw, the court said, was that it excluded the project’s impact on marine shipping. That, in turn, meant that the energy board did not assess the potential impact of increased tanker traffic on the endangered southern resident killer whale population.

The court also found that during the final phase of Indigenous consultation, the government’s representatives limited their mandate to listening to and recording the concerns of the Indigenous applicants and then transmitting those concerns to the decision-makers.

“There was no meaningful twoway dialogue,” Justice Eleanor Dawson wrote on behalf of the panel.

The ruling requires the energy board to conduct a new review including the impacts of tanker traffic and means the government will have to redo part of its consultation with Indigenous groups.

Morneau did not rule out seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but he suggested the government would comply with the Federal Court’s requirements, saying it had given the government good direction on next steps.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter that he had spoken with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and reassured her that the federal government stands by the project and will ensure it moves forward in the right way.

The federal government will now have to consult with First Nations in a way that seriously considers their concerns and provides a response and even an accommodation in some cases, said Gordon Christie, a University of British Columbia law professor.