Ottawa to intervene in B.C.'s Trans Mountain court case
'We are confident in Parliaments jurisdiction,' says Jody Wilson-Raybould
The federal government saysit will intervene inthe B.C. provincialgovernment's Trans Mountain pipeline court reference action that will decide whether the province can restrict any increase in the amount of diluted bitumen that moves across its border.
"We are confident in Parliament's jurisdiction and will intervene on the question in order to defend our clear jurisdiction over interprovincial pipelines," Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybouldsaid in a statement.
B.C. Premier John Horgan announced last month that his province's highest court would be asked to determine if B.C. has the right to seek permits from companies that want to increase the amount of bitumen being shippedto the West Coast.
The federal government will now be in a position to make arguments and present evidence in the case.
The federal move is the latest development in the ongoing standoff between the B.C. governmentwhich wants to block the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline from the Alberta oilsands to the B.C. coast and the Alberta and federal governments, which back the expansion.
Thecourt caseessentially is asking the B.C. Court of Appeal if the province has the jurisdiction to implement a law it has drafted that wouldamend the province's Environmental Protection Act with the new regulations.
The draft legislation says companies seeking to bring more diluted bitumen through B.C.would need a permit from the province.
Targeting the pipeline
The new regulations, should they be deemed legal, would apply only to increases in the flow of bitumen into B.C., not to existing shipmentlevels.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notleyhas called the move another attempt by B.C. to delay or scuttle Kinder Morgan'spipeline expansion.
"If bitumen was so hazardous, why would we only be looking at the incremental bitumen in the new pipeline?" she said last month. "This isn't about the environment. This is about the new pipeline, which is well beyond [B.C.'s] authority."
After B.C. announced it was going to the province's highest court, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers described the action aslittle more than a stalling tactic designed to bog down the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
"The government of Canada now needs to exercise its constitutional authority and act in Canada's best interests to move the project forward without further legal or political delays from the B.C. government, or risk hurting the national economy and the livelihoods of thousands of middle-class Canadians," the organization said in a news release.
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