As the Premier blinks first in the pipeline dispute with Alberta instead opting to take the contentious proposal of whether or not the province can dictate the flow of bitumen to the courts, the MLA for Kamloops South is shaking his head.
Todd Stone says the Horgan government initiated this dispute, triggered a trade war with Alberta that sideswiped the BC wine industry before throwing in the towel.
“John Horgan blinked in a big way yesterday and thank god. This whole mess was created by him and his government with the actions they unilaterally weeks ago that instigated Alberta to take the action that they did. Then we found ourselves in a trade war. There have been pretty significant consequences in the wine industry and for contractors that supply oil and gas. Tourism operators were really beginning to feel it in the Kootenays in particular.”
As for what whether or not a provincial government has the jurisdiction to limit the flow of bitumen through a federally approved pipeline.
“We do not believe they do. The federal government has the jurisdiction over the movement of resources across provincial borders. That is fundamental to the Canadian constitution, the economic union that we have in this country. They are well within their rights to take it to the courts and refer the question and have the courts come back. I think the answer is going to be British Columbia you have wasted a whole bunch of taxpayers money and a whole bunch of time this is a federally approved project.”
Stone says the provincial government’s opposition to Trans-Mountain is also sending a chill through the oil industry and others.