OTTAWA - The federal government is advancing the process to designate a proposed oil pipeline to the West Coast as a “national interest” project. Naming a project in the national interest under the Building Canada Act allows the government to fast-track approvals and skirt some environmental laws. A notice published in the Canada Gazette on Aug. 1 sets a Sept. 18 deadline to submit comments on the national interest designation. The proposed pipeline project has been referred already to the government’s major projects office, with the Alberta government listed as the proponent. The pipeline would be owned by Trans Mountain, the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission and Pembina Pipeline Corporation. Pembina has a 10 per cent ownership stake in the construction, with an option to purchase an additional 10 per cent once the pipeline is operational. The government’s notice says Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc will work with the Alberta and B.C. governments on the project while consultations with Indigenous communities are underway. Julia Levin, an associate director at Environmental Defence, criticized the government for quietly beginning this process during a long weekend. “Over the weekend, while Canadians across the country are dealing with raging wildfires and the aftermath of severe flooding and heat waves, Prime Minister (Mark) Carney quietly moved forward with his oil pipeline plans,” Levin said in a statement. “It’s no wonder he didn’t want to draw attention to this environmentally and economically risky project, and the breakneck speed at which he wants to get it approved without due oversight.” NDP Leader Avi Lewis called the pipeline project “corporate welfare on a surreal scale” and pointed out that it is not being backed primarily by the private sector. “For Canadians across this land, it is a kick in the teeth to call this climate bomb of a project ‘in the national interest,’” Lewis said in an emailed statement. “It is in big oil’s interest, for sure. But it doesn’t do a damn thing for people struggling with the cost of food and housing, increased costs from privatized health care, and of course the daily anxiety of climate breakdown.” The government’s definition of “national interest” includes projects that can strengthen “Canada’s autonomy, resilience and security,” provide economic benefits, have a high likelihood of success, advance Indigenous interests and contribute to “clean growth” and meeting Canada’s climate change goals. The proposed pipeline is a central component of an energy agreement between the federal and Alberta governments. The roughly 1,250-kilometre pipeline would carry upwards of one million barrels of crude oil from Bruderheim, Alta. to a port near Delta, B.C. for shipment to international markets. The Conservatives helped the government pass the Building Canada Act more than a year ago and the government has so far moved three projects toward the national interest designation. Those projects are the Grays Bay road and port project in Nunavut, the Mackenzie Valley Highway in the Northwest Territories and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s deep geological repository in northern Ontario. David Baxter, The Canadian Press With files from Nick Murray in Ottawa
