The debate over pipelines has been selected as The Canadian Press business story of the year.
In the annual survey of newsrooms across the country, pipeline development edged out another politically charged issue — real estate — by a single vote, a reflection of how the two stories competed for attention throughout 2016.
The year saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attempt to strike a grand bargain of sorts: approving Kinder Morgan's expansion of Trans Mountain and the replacement of Enbridge's Line 3 while also pushing ahead with a national carbon price and rejecting Enbridge's (TSX: ENB) Northern Gateway.
The decision to green-light Kinder Morgan, featuring an existing pipeline that would run from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., nearly tripling its capacity, was Trudeau's most controversial.
The project triggered protests, sparked legal challenges and tested federal-provincial relationships, themes that are likely to dominate the headlines next year.
The hot housing sector also earned the consideration of business newsroom leaders as politicians on every level took action in a bid to address prices that have spiraled to dizzying heights, particularly in Vancouver and Toronto.
Real estate worries also resonated outside Canada's largest cities
Governments tried to intervene without rocking the foundations of the market.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark instituted a surprise 15% tax on foreign buyers in Metro Vancouver and the city moved ahead with a tax on vacant homes. At the federal level, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau tightened mortgage rules.
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