And the feds blink
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/mckenna-outlines-pipeline-protections-ah...
OTTAWA - Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is floating the idea of a joint Ottawa-B.C. panel of scientists to enhance existing research on oil spills as the federal government continues pressing its case for the Trans Mountain expansion project.
McKenna is making the proposal to B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman just as the province prepares to unveil the question it will ask the Court of Appeal as it tries to limit the flow of oil through the expanded pipeline.
In a letter released today, McKenna says Ottawa has already taken steps to mitigate the damage in the event of a spill, including increased capacity to tow ships and five new emergency response stations, and says she is willing to address some of B.C.'s additional concerns.
If B.C. is interested, she says Canada would also consider a joint scientific advisory panel to take stock of the science available on oil spills, including current models of how to respond in the event of an incident involving a number of different petroleum products.
McKenna also says B.C.'s consultation paper on oil spill management left out the very federal policies and programs she says prove why the federal government believes the pipeline is safe.
But....
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/morneau-has-no-timeline-for-getting-tran...
Finance Minister Bill Morneau says the federal government sees advantages in getting the Trans Mountain pipeline extension built “rapidly,” but can’t offer a timeline for getting the job done....
Speaking with CTV’s Question Period host Evan Solomon, Morneau said the time for expressing concerns about the $7.4-billion project -- which the Liberal government approved in 2016 -- has passed.
“We’ve gone through a robust assessment of the environmental issues, we’ve talked with Indigenous Canadians, we’ve come up with an oceans protection plan that makes sense to ensure that we deal with the issues on the table,” said Morneau, speaking from Washington, D.C.
The message remains that the pipeline is going through. The "joint advisory panel" is just another means of the government claiming their measures are sufficient to protect the environment. The only permitted response is "yes" maybe with some added spill response measures.
The court cases just got a huge boost with the news that public servants were told to present reports that supported the pipeline.
It is very bizarre that they are pushing so hard when the courts could still rule against it. It will takes years to get through the Supreme Court.
I'm getting tired of this line "Trudeau responded by accusing New Democrats and Conservatives of trying to force the government to choose between either the environment or the economy."
Apparently "the economy" is just another word for the Transmountain pipeline in Trudeau's lexicon. He is right that we don't have to choose between the economy and environmental protection. We can reject the pipeline without destroying the economy.