The provincial government’s newfound opposition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline will make it very difficult for the Liberals to push the project through, according to Burnaby South MP Kennedy Stewart.
“I think this is a great victory for our community. It’s going to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Trudeau to approve this pipeline now,” Stewart said. “(Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) hasn’t said no. In fact, on a number of occasions, he’s said yes, but we’re a lot closer to killing this thing.”
News of the province’s opposition to the pipeline came out Monday, when the government filed its final argument in the National Energy Board hearing for the proposed $6.8-billion expansion. Stewart said the feds would not push the pipeline on an unwilling province, especially with opposition from a number of municipalities and First Nations.
“There’s no way the federal government would try to force 900 kilometers of pipeline through a community that doesn’t want it,” Stewart said. “By saying this, Premier Christy Clark has really drawn a line in the sand for Mr. Trudeau. And I really think it’s our community that has had the largest impact on that, and I think we should be really proud of what we’ve done.”
The provincial government is opposing the pipeline because Kinder Morgan didn’t supply enough information to determine whether the marine oil spill response plan is world class. The other four provincial conditions include: legal requirements met in respect to First Nations’ rights, B.C. getting a fair share of the economic benefits, a successful environmental review and world-class prevention for land-based oil spills.
Kinder Morgan, however, released a statement saying it’s confident the company can satisfy the province’s conditions by the end of the hearing and that the project will generate $46.7 billion in government revenue.
Mayor Derek Corrigan wasn’t available for comment, but the city released a letter he wrote to Trudeau Monday, asking him to stop the pipeline review until the government can make the changes to review process the Liberals promised during the election. Corrigan is hoping Trudeau can stop the hearings before Jan. 19, when intervenors are scheduled to start presenting their final oral arguments in Burnaby.
Liberal MP Terry Beech said his party is preparing a transitory process for current projects, like the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
“I know for a fact this is high up on various ministers’ radars,” Beech told the NOW. “In terms of the B.C. government’s opposition, community support is one of the things we talked about in the election. If the province isn’t supporting it, that adds to the community concerns.”
Beech is planning to leave his first Parliamentary session in Ottawa early to attend the hearings with Calvin Taplay, one of the intervenors who’s scheduled to present on Jan. 29.
