The new B.C. government brought a big gun to its fight to stop the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. But does the presence of Thomas Berger, who headed the formative 1970s royal commission into the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline project, change the Oil Pipeline Showdown of 2017?
Does B.C. Premier John Horgan’s government have any more legal ammunition today to stop Kinder Morgan from expanding its pipeline to the Pacific coast than it did a few days ago?
Not likely.
“I don’t think at this stage that it’s a game-changer,” said University of Calgary law professor Martin Olszynski, who specializes in natural resource issues.
“It has great symbolic value. Thomas Berger is a strong advocate for Indigenous People, for Canadians generally. But at the end of the day, the basic principles at play here — the basic legal principles and doctrines — are still the same.”
On Thursday, the Horgan government announced it is taking steps to “protect British Columbia’s interest” in the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. It is seeking intervener status in an upcoming lawsuit on the project’s approval, and cabinet ministers stressed construction on Crown land can’t proceed until all provincial approvals are in place.
Chris Varcoe – Calgary Herald – August 11, 2017.
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