Notley ‘a little bit more convinced’ about Ottawa’s next move
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says Ottawa has promised specific action to try to break the impasse over the Trans Mountain pipeline, but federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau won’t say exactly what measures are on the table.
The two leaders met in Toronto on Wednesday, and Notley told reporters in a conference call afterward that she left feeling “a little bit more convinced” that the federal government would take specific action soon.
She declined to outline what those actions might be, saying that’s something for Morneau to make public.
For his part, Morneau vowed to consider all options to get Kinder Morgan Inc.’s stalled pipeline expansion project moving again, but he shed little light on what measures are on the table.
After what he called a “good” meeting with Notley, Morneau said the government is considering “legal, regulatory and financial” ways to ensure the $7.4-billion expansion project isn’t hampered any further.
The future of the Trans Mountain project was put in jeopardy this week when Kinder Morgan said delay tactics by the B.C. government may make the expansion of the existing pipeline from Alberta to Burnaby financially untenable.
The company has suspended all non-essential work until May 31, saying the project won’t continue until the federal government intervenes in the tussle between B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Notley said the line is critical to getting oil to the coast and fetching better prices to aid the Canadian economy.
She’s introducing a bill next week to give her the power to turn down the oil taps to B.C., and says that will involve imposing new conditions on export licences.
“It would ... allow us to direct the export of the product in a way that allows us to get the best price for the product and meets other generalized objectives,” said Notley.
“That could include a number of things, both restricting what goes in certain directions as well as suggesting certain mechanisms for it to be transported.”
Though some have suggested the federal government could take a monetary stake in the project to end the rift, Morneau would not comment on that possibility Wednesday, and said he wouldn’t be able to provide details on specific actions he is mulling over until discussions around the project are more advanced.
He also declined to detail what has been said in recent conversations between the government and Kinder Morgan.
Following an emergency federal cabinet meeting Tuesday in Ottawa, Morneau wouldn’t speculate on whether penalizing B.C. financially — such as by withholding transfer payments — remained an option.
“I’m not going to publicly negotiate with any one of the parties,” he said.
The federal Liberal government granted approval of the project in 2016. Substantial work has not yet begun, however.
Opponents of the pipeline fear potential spills along the B.C. coast, and argue that Indigenous communities have not given their consent to the project, violating their constitutional rights.
B.C. is also part of a lawsuit against Ottawa arguing there was not proper consultation with Indigenous communities or other stakeholders when the pipeline was reviewed.
A decision in that case is expected any day.
More than 30 Indigenous communities along the pipeline’s route support the project, but many other communities in B.C. do not.
Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has long stood in opposition to the project.
He said on Wednesday the Trudeau government should, in tandem with B.C., ask the Supreme Court for a reference to resolve what he calls jurisdictional issues.