As major political developments unfolded to her east and west Thursday, a smiling Alberta Premier Rachel Notley toured a sprawling oil pipeline construction site near Hardisty.
As heavy equipment scraped dirt from the Enbridge Line 3 replacement pipeline’s right of way, Notley lauded the project as environmentally responsible, saying it will boost small-town businesses and create 9,200 direct and indirect jobs in the province.
“This is a win. A win for working people. A win for all of Alberta. It’s a win for Prairie communities,” Notley said while standing in the Amisk pipe yard, where about 40 kilometres of pipe segments await installation.
An hour earlier, the B.C. government announced it would join the legal fight against another crucial Alberta pipeline — the Trans Mountain expansion. The addition to the existing pipe from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., would triple Kinder Morgan’s capacity to move oil to tankers on the Pacific coast.
The B.C. government will seek intervener status in a federal court case to be heard this fall, and said the company can’t start digging on public land until it receives approval for five outstanding environmental management plans.
Janet French – Vancouver Sun – August 10, 2017
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