British Columbia to oppose Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion

“I think it’s a good sign that the B.C. government recognizes a spill on our coast would be disastrous”, he said. “Fundamentally, there is nothing new in this filing”.

The British Columbia government did not entirely rule out the possibility of Kinder Morgan meeting their requirements in future, adding that it will continue to evaluate the project.

The British Columbia government said on Monday it will formally oppose the expansion of Kinder Morgan Inc’s Trans Mountain pipeline to Canada’s west coast, another blow to oil sands producers already reeling from a global crude price crash.

Since B.C.’s conditions were announced, there have been multiple meetings between B.C. and Alberta to discuss benefit sharing, a new national energy strategy that promised lots of inter-provincial cooperation, initiatives by the previous Conservative government to improve oil spill prevention and response as well as initiatives to resolve aboriginal concerns and increase their benefits, yet B.C.’s palm remains wide open.

British Columbia’s stand comes as Kinder Morgan attempts to clear the final hurdles in the federal environmental assessment process.

The energy board is hearing oral summary arguments from interveners starting later this month and is scheduled to make its recommendations to the federal cabinet in May.

The multibillion-dollar project would almost triple the capacity of the existing pipeline that runs from a community near Edmonton to the Vancouver area.

After Mr. Trudeau led the Liberals to victory in the October federal election, some had speculated that the regulatory process would be thrown into limbo as a result of the party’s position that reviews were lacking in environmental stringency.

A world-class oil spill response plan is one of five conditions Kinder Morgan must meet to secure support from B.C. Kinder Morgan declined to comment, as the company is releasing a statement in response shortly.

British Columbia receives a fair share of the fiscal and economic benefits of a proposed heavy-oil project that reflect the level, degree and nature of the risk borne by the province, the environment and taxpayers.

The Conference Board of Canada has estimated the project will generate $46.7 billion in government revenues and 802,000 person years of employment over more than 20 years. “We don’t have to trade jobs for the environment”.

Former NEB chair Gaetan Caron, now a fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, said support or lack of support of the B.C. government is not critical in determining whether the project should be approved.

“It is evident that the NEB process is broken, and there is little value in a fact-finding process that has no reasonable prospect for testing evidence”, Mr. Corrigan said in his three-page letter sent on Monday to Mr. Trudeau.

“It’s more important to consider the potential damage of an oilspill – not just the damage to land and sea but also the damage to the reputation of B.C.as a tourist destination”, he said.