Canadian provinces feud over pipeline project

Apipeline project aimed at boosting Canada’s overseas oil sales andreducing reliance on US buyers has pitted two provincial governmentsagainst each other, sticking the prime minister in the middle.TheC$7.4bn ($5.9bn) expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which willallow it to carry 890,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta’s oilsands to the Pacific coast for shipping overseas, was approved by Ottawain November 2016, and “twinning” of the 1,150km conduit is nowunderway.But a newly-elected New Democratic Party (NDP) governmentin British Columbia announced last week it would block new oil shipmentsthrough the province pending a further review of the risk of an oilspill in coastal waters.British Columbia is concerned that an oiltanker leak could damage its pristine rainforest coastline, puttingcommercial fisheries and tourism at risk.The move outraged the NDPgovernment in Alberta, which has been forced to sell most of its oil tothe US at a discount due to a lack of pathways to other markets.It hit back by walking out on talks to purchase electricity from a massive new dam project in British Columbia.Federalopposition leader Andrew Scheer on Wednesday called the interprovincialtrade row a “crisis” and urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cutshort a US trade mission, return to Canada and “take control of thesituation.”“Jobs are being threatened not only in Alberta, but in British Columbia and indeed around the country,” he said.Trudeau told a local talk radio show during a visit last week to Alberta: “That pipeline is going to get built.”But he equivocated when pressed about whether he would step in to end the Alberta-British Columbia feud.“Obviously, we’re going to continue to make sure that we’re standing up for the national interest,” he told reporters.“Canadians know that the environment and the economy need to go together.”Boxedinto a corner, Trudeau must defend the federal approval of a pipelinedeemed to be in the “national interest” and of economic benefit to thisoil-rich country, while trying to maintain his appeal with progressivevoters who helped elect him in 2015 on a promise to slash greenhousegases.That pledge would require a significant cut in Canada’s use ofCO2 emissions, and the Alberta oil sands are the single biggest emitterin Canada.Further riling his supporters, Trudeau’s governmentunveiled a new, stricter and streamlined environmental and regulatoryreview process on Thursday for pipelines, mines and other majorprojects.But that came too late for the Trans Mountain pipeline,approved under the old regulatory framework, which Trudeau himself hasmaligned.