Trans Mountain ‘pipeline is going to get built’: Trudeau dismisses B.C.’s bitumen ban

Hoid said:

Horgan did what he had to do politically.
He will pursue it to the Supreme Court because he has to.
The feds will oppose it there because they have to.

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Mowich said:

Braid: After humiliating court defeat, B.C. Premier Horgan blusters on


B.C.'s appeal court has told Premier John Horgan he can't stand in the way of Alberta oil flowing to tidewater.

And yet, B.C. Premier John Horgan does not relent in shilling for continued support of Andrew Weaver’s Greens.

B.C. will appeal this defeat to the Supreme Court of Canada, Horgan vows. He and his attorney general, David Eby, still say they can win.

But this was a courtroom rout; the B.C. appeal court judges ruled 5-0 against Horgan’s specious argument that the province can regulate in an area of clear federal power.

It was a great victory for Premier Jason Kenney, who increasingly looks like a lucky politician. Former Premier Rachel Notley pitched for eight long innings; Kenney strolls to the mound and gets the win.

“B.C.’s highest court has spoken,” Kenney tweeted. “The time for obstruction of TMX is now over.”

The ruling has welcome symbolic meaning. It’s a full-throated declaration that we still have a country where the national government has certain essential powers. The feds were in court, along with Alberta, to argue the point vigorously.

The ruling smooths the way for a new federal approval of pipeline construction on or before June 18. This is a near certainty. We can also expect, before fall, news of major First Nations investment in the project.

There was worry in Ottawa before the B.C. ruling came down. The loss in Federal Court last Aug. 30 – the only one, but massively damaging – showed everyone that you never can be sure what a Canadian court will do next.

Another defeat on Friday would have discouraged oil and gas investment, devalued the federal pipeline stake of $4.5 billion, and ramped up Alberta anger once again.

So, this was a major win – essential, in fact, for the good of Alberta and the whole country.

The unanimous ruling is clear about what Horgan was trying to do.

It says: “The ‘default’ position of the law is to prohibit the possession of all heavy oil in the Province above the Substance Threshold — an immediate and existential threat to a federal undertaking that is being expanded specifically to increase the amount of oil being transported through British Columbia.”

(The “threshold” is roughly the amount that goes through the existing line, which Horgan did not seek to regulate, thereby showing the judges he doesn’t mind bitumen so much after all.)

The ruling continues: “Even if it were not intended to ‘single out’ the TMX pipeline, it has the potential to affect (and indeed ‘stop in its tracks’) the entire operation of Trans Mountain as an interprovincial carrier and exporter of oil.

“It is legislation that in pith and substance relates to, and relates only to, what makes the pipeline ‘specifically of federal jurisdiction’.”

The ruling goes on like that. You could say it knocks the pith out of Horgan.

But the B.C. Greens are increasingly militant, after winning eight provincial seats in Prince Edward Island and the federal riding of Nanaimo-Ladysmith in a byelection May 6.

“To be very clear,” federal Leader Elizabeth May has tweeted, “we do not support a single additional barrel of output, a single additional well, or off-shore exploration. No fracking. A rapid transition off fossil fuels.”

Horgan has to dance on the Green string to keep his job. You could almost feel sorry for the guy, if he hadn’t directly caused so much economic pain in Alberta.

And now his reward is Jason Kenney, the implacable foe he helped install by making life so difficult for Notley.

It’s likely that this victory for Kenney, regardless of who did the grunt work, has averted a national crisis.

If Horgan had won and his government had begun to impose the regulations, the premier probably would have invoked Bill 12 and cut oil and gas supplies to both B.C. and the rest of the country.

That won’t happen – yet – but many hurdles await. Actually building the pipeline, for instance.


calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/braid-after-humiliating-court-defeat-b-c-premier-horgan-blusters-on

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Hoid said:

And maybe the Supreme Court will overturn he lower courts decision because its the right thing to do.

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Hoid said:

And maybe the Supreme Court will overturn he lower courts decision because its the right thing to do.

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Hoid said:

It was poorly written and seemingly meant to be that way.

The point BC is trying to make is valid - the province should have a say of some sort in what gets transported across their jurisdiction.

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JLM said:

If you happen to think Provincial supersedes Federal, you have another think coming!

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JLM said:

If you happen to think Provincial supersedes Federal, you have another think coming!

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Mowich said:

The case had nothing to do with 'stopping the flow' of oil. Rather it had to do with the legality of a province limiting the amount of oil traveling through the line by creating a 'permitting regime'.

The BC Court of Appeal ruled that it was unconstitutional as the Federal government has sole and 'exclusive' responsibility over interprovincial pipelines.

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Mowich said:

"Justice Mary Newbury wrote on behalf of the panel that the substance of the proposed amendments were to place conditions on and, if necessary, prohibit the movement of heavy oil through a federal undertaking.

Newbury also wrote that the legislation is not just an environmental law of “general application,” but is targeted at one substance, heavy oil, in one interprovincial pipeline: the Trans Mountain expansion project.

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Mowich said:

“Immediately upon coming into force, it would prohibit the operation of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline in the province until such time as a provincially appointed official decided otherwise,” she said.

“This alone threatens to usurp the role of the (National Energy Board), which has made many rulings and imposed many conditions to be complied with by Trans Mountain for the protection of the environment.”

business.financialpost.com/news/b-c-cant-restrict-oil-shipments-court-says-in-resounding-win-for-trans-mountain

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pgs said:

So sad that Horgan is actually pro pipeline . Politics make strange bedfellows.

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Hoid said:

It was poorly written and seemingly meant to be that way.

The point BC is trying to make is valid - the province should have a say of some sort in what gets transported across their jurisdiction.

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Ron in Regina said:

The irony is that the Federal Gov't has always had sole and 'exclusive' responsibility over interprovincial pipelines....and all the rest of this BS over the last few years was just obfuscating smoke and mirrors to hamstring Western Canada to the entire Nations loss...& never had to happen if the Federal Gov't just stepped up to the plate and said, "Sorry Boys, but this matter of inter-provincial transportation is a Federal call, and this is real and happening today!" years before us taxpayers ended up owning a pipeline.

Was Alberta really paranoid in trying to defend itself? The rest of that same play of oilsands lays under Saskatchewan. It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.

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Mowich said:

The Feds could turn this into a positive by announcing that the twinning will proceed and the line will be sold to a consortium of First Nations.

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Tecumsehsbones said:

Damn, you spelled "supersedes" right, JLM! I'm impressed.

Seriously, no sarcasm. Probably about 90% of everybody spells it "supercedes." Well done you!

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Mowich said:

He is, pgs and it most certainly does. I don't imagine the bargain he made with the Greens sits all that well with him. I get the feeling that there is little closeness between himself and the leader of the Greens. It is rare to see them appear together in public or when giving interviews to news networks. Supporting the pipeline was a deal breaker for the Greens if the NDP wanted their support. Horgan bent to their wishes and here we are paying for yet another appeal on an issue that had Horgan won a majority would no doubt have been a done deal.

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Mowich said:

The Feds could turn this into a positive by announcing that the twinning will proceed and the line will be sold to a consortium of First Nations.

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Tecumsehsbones said:

Well. . . since you get less spillage out of pipelines, I guess the goal here is more spillage.

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