B.C. Premier John Horgan called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday to pump more refined fuel through the Trans Mountain Pipeline, hours after his lawyers filed a legal challenge to Alberta’s freshly enacted “turn off the taps” legislation.
According to the Vancouver Sun, Horgan told reporters he hoped to speak to Trudeau by the end of the day “about what the new owners of that pipeline can do about relieving pressure here in the Lower Mainland.
“I can’t rationalize the outrageous spike in prices here relative to other jurisdictions, beyond what I’ve said several times — a lack of supply.”
The price for a litre of regular unleaded gasoline hovered just shy of $1.70 at many stations in Vancouver at midday Wednesday. Horgan said his message to worried drivers is that he was worried too.
He said he was taking steps to work with “the owners of the pipeline, the federal government,” to try to reduce the export of bitumen through the pipeline and increase the volume of refined product.
Asked whether that would change his position on the proposed pipeline expansion, Horgan responded that the use of Burrard Inlet as “an export terminus exclusively” is not in the interest of B.C. “I think there is an opportunity for the three governments to find a way forward. But there is a lot of work to do and what we’re focused on right now is the unacceptably high retail price of gasoline in the Lower Mainland.”
The Prime Minister’s Office passed the opportunity to comment to Alexandre Deslongchamps, the director of communications for the minister of Natural Resources Canada. “Our government will continue working with our provincial counterparts to ensure a secure, reliable and affordable supply of energy for all Canadians, and support the good, middle-class jobs our energy sector creates,” he said.
(Vancouver Sun)
