British Columbia has received intervener status in the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion legal battle that is about to go before the Federal Court of Appeal, but it comes with conditions, according to The Canadian Press.
The new NDP government opposes the $7.4 billion project that would triple the capacity of the Kinder Morgan subsidiary’s pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby. Several First Nations and municipalities have filed legal challenges against the approval the federal government gave the project, and the lawsuits have been combined.
B.C. didn’t apply for intervener status until Aug. 22. The initial deadline to do so was April 13, but that was before the May 9 provincial election.
In the court’s ruling Tuesday, Justice David Stratas said the case will still be heard Oct. 2 to 13 which means B.C. must submit its 15-page document of facts by Friday, the same deadline the Alberta government, which supports the project, has.
"We are pleased that the court has granted our government's application for intervener status in the Federal Court of Appeal. It is also absolutely appropriate and necessary that we have the opportunity to defend British Columbia's interests in this very important case," said Environment and Climate Change Strategy Minister George Heyman in a provincial government press release. "We will continue to defend B.C.'s coast and the economic and environmental interests that are so important to British Columbians."
The court also told B.C. it can’t introduce new issues or evidence at the hearing, and the province has to pay $7,500 to Trans Mountain for having to prepare a late response to B.C.’s arguments.
