Clark says Ottawa close to meeting BC’s five pipeline conditions

Enbridge hopes to begin operating the new Line 3 in 2019, if it gets USA approval.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed off on the pipeline by Houston-based Kinder Morgan, while rejecting the competing Northern Gateway pipeline project by Calgary-based Enbridge.

However, the project faces fierce opposition among some First Nations, particularly along Burrard Inlet such as the Tsleil-Waututh, as well as environmental and community groups. This would cost Enbridge US$5.6 billion (C$7.5 bln).

As the Canadian government approved the expansion of a pipeline that will triple the amount of oil brought from Alberta to a Vancouver-area port, opponents promised to continue their efforts to kill the project. The government will also establish an Economic Pathways Partnership for each pipeline that will make it easier for Indigenous groups to access existing federal programs that help them participate in and benefit economically from this project. “Period”, Trudeau said in a prepared statement.

The pipeline decisions follow weeks of Liberal government announcements created to show it is serious about combating climate change, including an accelerated coal phase-out and a national floor price on carbon emissions starting in 2018.

Clark, has never indicated a dislike or disapproval of both the Kinder Morgan and Enbridge Northern Gateway proposals.

“All First Nations of British Columbia were opposed to Northern Gateway”, said Art Sterritt, a spokesman for and member of Gitga’at.

Trudeau’s administration attempted to impose a “climate test” on new pipelines and record any potential increases in Carbon dioxide emissions earlier this month, but immediately told companies how to get around it.

Federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair said Trudeau “betrayed” British Columbians, many of whom fiercely protested oil conduits running through their province and onto their shores. The Line 3 project would almost double the existing pipeline’s volume to 760,000 barrels a day.

By 2019 it is expected to begin moving 760,000 barrels of oil per day.

The importance of Trudeau’s decisions on pipelines only grew after the Obama administration turned down TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline that would have taken Alberta oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Michael Tran, who works as a commodity strategist for RBC capital markets, said regarding the issue: “The game changer here for Canada is Trans Mountain”.

Trans Mountain and Line 3 are the first major pipeline projects to be approved by the Liberal government since it swept to power in 2015.

However, many are outraged by the approval of the pipelines.

“There’s no plan in Canada to reduce greenhouse gases, and there’s no possible way to reduce our overall greenhouse gas productions, because Mr. Trudeau still hasn’t done the hard work of coming up with a plan”.

Trudeau noted it’s the twinning of an existing pipeline that has been in operation since 1953.

Canada’s prime minister balanced the debate on oil infrastructure by delivering split decisions that drew industry praise and complaints from environmentalists. “We have not been, and will not be swayed by political arguments, be they local, regional or national”, the prime minister told reporters.

Conservative MP Mark Strahl said the Liberals “need to champion (all of) these projects. It’s clear today that they were misled”.

Another New Democrat, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, had a different take.

Canada has repeatedly been unable to meet its decarbonization landmarks, despite Trudeau’s tough talk.