British Columbia’s attorney general said on Tuesday that the West Coast province is not delaying Kinder Morgan Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, despite the company’s saying that B.C.’s opposition was making the build “untenable.”
According to Reuters, B.C.’s Attorney General David Eby told reporters that his province is approving Trans Mountain permits on the same timeline as other major projects, and that its new environmental rules and a jurisdictional challenge simply come down to the province protecting its interests.
“It is not to stop the pipeline,” Eby told Reuters, “it is not to prevent it – it’s to ensure that we have the protections in place for when the pipeline is built and turned on.”
His comments run up against assertions from Kinder Morgan, which stopped all non-essential work on the $7.4 billion project last month, citing permitting delays and political opposition in British Columbia, and set a May 31 deadline to decide if the build would go ahead or not.
Alberta’s premier, Rachel Notley, said separately that her province was “getting closer” in its talks with Kinder Morgan to ensure the expansion gets built, but she declined to provide details.
Notley backed out of a meeting with other Western Canadian provincial leaders this week, including B.C. Premier John Horgan, saying she would instead focus on Trans Mountain as the May 31 deadline looms.
(Reuters)
