B.C.’s New Democrats — with Greens cheering them on — are mounting a series of guerrilla actions against the Trans Mountain oil-pipeline expansion that could start a full-scale showdown with Ottawa and Alberta.
The NDP minority government is only three weeks old. It’s far from clear whether it has the B.C.-wide support you’d think might be needed to start a serious argument with the federal government. But it is determined to stall the construction start next month of the $7.4-billion line that already has the federal seal of approval. That stall is not going to go over well east of the Rockies.
Environment Minister George Heyman and Attorney General David Eby were circumspect in confirming for the first time in government what they’ve been saying in opposition. They reiterated the government is against the expansion, but were careful in describing what they’re going to do about it.
A handful of provincial environmental management plans haven’t been approved yet, out of concerns about First Nations’ consultation. So there will likely be requirements for an exhaustive new series of consultations.
B.C. will do its own consultation with them as well, and you can count on it being all-encompassing and time-consuming, even though 51 bands have benefits agreements with Kinder Morgan. B.C. will also join a legal challenge in Federal Court this November.
As well, the government retained noted lawyer Tom Berger, a former leader of the B.C. NDP, to advise on other ways to sideline the project. Berger became prominent in the 1970s when he headed an inquiry commission on a Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline. He took the then-novel step of listening intently to Dene and Inuit concerns, immersing himself in their lives, to the point where he was accused of running away with his terms of reference.
He recommended a 10-year stall on that line until land claims were settled. That stall lasted 30 years. It got federal approval in 2010, but is still dormant today.
With Berger coaching from the sidelines, the steps noted above are prelude to further actions. It’s likely to become the most intense B.C.-Ottawa argument since the days of NDP premier Glen Clark.
It was startling to hear how avid Green Leader Andrew Weaver was in describing the stakes.
“We all know that [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau could invoke national interest and ram this through. That would not be in his best interest. We’d see outrage like we’ve never seen before in B.C. I can’t see him doing that. It would be a constitutional crisis.”
He said it would be “much akin to the national energy policies of his father’s era in Alberta, except I would take that to a whole new level.” Pierre Trudeau devised an energy plan to cap oil prices for Canadians, but it cost Alberta billions and prompted the bumper sticker: “Let the eastern bastards freeze in the dark.”
Hours after the NDP staked out the position, Weaver mass-emailed a fundraising letter crediting his party with helping to prompt it. It said the NDP government’s moves were “a major condition for our agreement with the NDP. It stipulated they must ‘employ every tool available … to stop the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline.’
“Donate now so we can keep B.C. moving away from last century’s industries and towards a 21st-century economy.”
Weaver gave confident assurances the expansion would never be built.
A classic political move through the ages, when a government is in trouble at home, is to start a fight with someone else to rally support.
The NDP isn’t even in trouble yet, but it’s going to start a big argument with a powerful opponent, regardless. Whether it rallies people in support or it blows up in their faces is anyone’s guess.
When a province does this, it usually appeals to other provinces for support. That’s not going to happen this time.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley not only needs the expansion, she needs to be seen at home as fighting hard for the line. She didn’t take the B.C. bait this week, but her government will certainly object to B.C.’s new stance.
