Last year, the federal government announced that it was approving the twinning of the TransMountain pipeline which, once constructed and initialized, would increase multifold the volume of Alberta’s oil sand bitumen that could be shipped out of Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. The new NDP government in British Columbia announced on January 30, 2018 that it was considering regulations to limit any increase in diluted bitumen that could be shipped through British Columbia. This announcement was met almost immediately by a warning from a stern Alberta Premier Rachel Notley that BC was acting unconstitutionally and that it was purporting to exercise powers it did not have. The constitutional battle lines are being quickly drawn. (See the news report from CBC News from that date for a quick review of what was said by the various parties).

Continue reading →