OTTAWA 鈥� Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is putting taxpayer money where his government鈥檚 mouth is, promising to deploy both financial and legislative tools to ensure the disputed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion between Alberta and British Columbia is able to proceed.
At the same time, however, Trudeau 鈥� speaking after a rare Sunday meeting with the warring premiers from both provinces 鈥� concedes there is more his Liberal government is willing to do to protect the sa国际传媒 coastline from a possible oil spill.
Trudeau spoke at the end of a remarkable eight-hour stopover in the national capital, an unscheduled break from his overseas trip to accommodate the last-minute summit with sa国际传媒鈥檚 John Horgan, who has staked his government鈥檚 survival on opposing the pipeline, and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, whose province鈥檚 economic health depends on it.
鈥淭he Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is of vital strategic interest to sa国际传媒,鈥� Trudeau said following the two-hour meeting. 鈥淚t will be built.鈥�
It has been a week since Kinder Morgan announced it was halting all non-essential spending on the plan to build a second, bigger pipeline parallel to the existing one between Edmonton and Burnaby, sa国际传媒 The company gave the Trudeau government until the end of May to reassure its investors the pipeline would be built, despite mounting opposition.
After the meeting, Notley and Trudeau exuded confidence the deadline would be met and the pipeline would proceed. Horgan, however, betrayed no evidence that their confidence had anything to do with him. If anything, the positions of the two NDP premiers appeared all the more entrenched when the meeting was over.
Notley said legislation to allow Alberta to cut oil supplies to sa国际传媒, sure to send gas prices there soaring, would be introduced in the legislature this week. Horgan said a court challenge testing whether sa国际传媒 has the jurisdiction to regulate what can and can鈥檛 flow through the expansion will proceed before the end of the month.
The chasm between them did not go unacknowledged by the prime minister.
鈥淲e must recognize that they remain at an impasse, which only the government of sa国际传媒 has the capacity and the authority to resolve,鈥� he said.
As such, Trudeau said he has instructed Finance Minister Bill Morneau to sit down with Kinder Morgan to find a financial solution that will soothe their investors. He also promised legislation that would reaffirm Ottawa鈥檚 authority to press ahead with a development deemed to be in sa国际传媒鈥檚 national interest.
He said the negotiations with Kinder Morgan wouldn鈥檛 play out in public, and he would not elaborate on exactly what the legislation will say.
Kinder Morgan, for its part, would not say Sunday whether it felt mollified by the day鈥檚 events.
鈥淥ur objectives are to obtain certainty with respect to the ability to construct through sa国际传媒 and for the protection of our shareholders in order to build the Trans Mountain Expansion Project,鈥� the company said in a statement.
鈥淲e do not intend to issue updates or further disclosures on the status of consultations until we鈥檝e reached a sufficiently definitive agreement on or before May 31 that satisfies our objectives.鈥�
Trudeau said the pipeline was approved by his government in 2016 after a rejigged environmental assessment and Indigenous consultation process, and only in concert with the Liberals鈥� climate change and oceans protection plan. Approval came in consultation with the previous sa国际传媒 Liberal government, which gave its consent to the project after its own conditions were met.
Horgan鈥檚 election last year changed that. His minority government exists at the pleasure of the Green party, and on condition of his continued opposition to the project. Trudeau made it clear Sunday that Horgan and his government are the ones wholly responsible for the impasse.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we would be in this situation if the British Columbia government hadn鈥檛 continued to emphasize its opposition to the project,鈥� Trudeau said. 鈥淭hat is why we are at this point right now.鈥�
The federal government can and will do more on the pipeline鈥檚 potential environmental impact, he added. But he also accused Horgan of ramping up his rhetoric about environmental uncertainty and gaps in the federal oceans protection plan, without providing details.
鈥淯nfortunately, over the course of almost a year, they have not specifically put forward proposals on how they would like to see us improve the oceans protection plan,鈥� said Trudeau. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something we very much are open to doing.鈥�
Horgan blamed the lack of specifics on the dispute itself.
鈥淲e have been working at the official level for some time laying out concerns, and I was encouraged that today鈥檚 meeting will allow us to get back on track in that respect,鈥� he said.
A lack of scientific clarity on how diluted bitumen behaves in water, and a lack of political clarity over who is responsible to pay in the event of such a spill, are two of his chief conce
rns, Horgan added.Horgan told reporters the Prime Minister said he had no intention of punishing British Columbians, implying that there would be no federal retaliation for continuing to oppose the pipeline.
If sa国际传媒 loses the court case, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 the way it should be,鈥� said Horgan. 鈥淏ut what other parties do is up to them.鈥�
There were no threats or intimidation in what he described as a 鈥渃ollegial meeting among peers.鈥�
鈥淏ut I believe I gave as good as I got,鈥� said Horgan.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 premier said he vigorously outlined the environmental issues, including the economic risk to the salmon fishery and tourism and repeated his concern about the gaps in the Ocean Protection Plan.
The sa国际传媒 Coast is large, said Horgan. It took a month to deal with a 100,000-litre diesel spill near Bella Bella, he noted.
A dilbit spill would be far more challenging.
Indeed, knowledge is limited when it comes to how diluted bitumen 鈥� known colloquially as dilbit 鈥� interacts with water, and how best to contain and clean it up. Dilbit spilled into Michigan鈥檚 Kalamazoo River from an Enbridge pipeline in 2010 cost billions to clean up, with parts of the river closed for years afterwards.
Before the meeting, Horgan sought advice from Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard because he鈥檚 鈥渘ew at this sort of thing.鈥�
The two have a similar world view, said Horgan referring to Quebec鈥檚 successful campaign against the Energy East pipeline.
Horgan gave Trudeau credit for arranging the meeting which was 鈥渦seful鈥� for all three of them.
The issues are not trivial, but this shouldn鈥檛 be looked on as a crisis, said Horgan.
Notley, meanwhile, said she felt 鈥渁 lot better鈥� following the meeting 鈥� and that once Morneau鈥檚 talks with Kinder Morgan were complete, the project would proceed.
鈥淚鈥檓 quite confident that should these discussions end successfully, that the pipeline will be built 鈥� and that is good, because the pipeline is in the national interest,鈥� she said.
Before Sunday鈥檚 duelling news conferences were even complete, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was front and centre, accusing Trudeau of sitting on his hands for too long and frittering away investor confidence in sa国际传媒 as a whole.
鈥淗is damaging policies ... have only led to more uncertainty and instability in sa国际传媒鈥檚 resource sector,鈥� Scheer said, describing an energy sector that is now convinced that 鈥淛ustin Trudeau does not want their business in sa国际传媒.鈥�
Alberta鈥檚 Opposition leader, Jason Kenney, also said Sunday鈥檚 meeting didn鈥檛 bring the pipeline any closer to construction. He said government investment in the project would do nothing to solve sa国际传媒鈥檚 continuing opposition.
Kenney repeated his calls for the prime minister to penalize sa国际传媒 by withholding federal dollars for infrastructure and jobs training. He noted Trudeau鈥檚 father would not have stood for what the Horgan government is doing 鈥� despite his reputation as an oilsands opponent.
鈥淚 believe that (former) prime minister Pierre Trudeau 鈥� who was no great friend of Alberta鈥檚 energy industry 鈥� would not have tolerated the ... lawlessness and violation of the Constitution that we are seeing right now,鈥� the United Conservative Party leader told reporters Sunday.
鈥� with a file from Louise Dickson
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