Citing the “national interest,” federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said Thursday that Ottawa will intervene in British Columbia’s legal challenge to the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
The legal case filed in the B.C. Court of Appeal asks if the province has jurisdiction to regulate the transport of oil through its territory, a key question in the political battle over the project.
“We are confident in Parliament’s jurisdiction and will intervene on the question in order to defend our clear jurisdiction over interprovincial pipelines,” said Minister Wilson-Raybould in a written statement given to media.
Project architect Kinder Morgan has halted investment in the expansion until the clouds of uncertainty looming over it can be cleared, and given the provincial and federal governments involved a May 31 deadline on the issue, the federal government remains a strong and increasingly adamant supporter of the pipeline expansion.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has vowed that the pipeline will be built, and has instructed Finance Minister Bill Morneau to sit down with Kinder Morgan to find a financial solution that will soothe their investors’ concerns. He also promised legislation that would reaffirm Ottawa’s authority to press ahead with a development deemed to be in Canada’s national interest.
B.C. Premier John Horgan has said he will use every tool available to stop the pipeline, arguing that his province has every right to protect its residents, economy and environment from the threat of a future oil spill.
