The British Columbia government has filed a lawsuit against Alberta over Bill 12, legislation passed by the government that gives it the power to restrict and redirect the flow of oil into B.C.
Court documents filed with Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench say B.C.’s Attorney General was bringing the action against Alberta’s Attorney General on the “unconstitutionality of the Preserving Canada’s Economic Prosperity Act.”
The statement of claim says the legislation goes against three sections of the Constitution and denied the B.C. government was responsible for “delays” to the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project, which it said Alberta was punishing B.C. for.
The lawsuit claims the legislation is unconstitutional because it violates section 121, which allows: “All articles of the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of any one of the Provinces shall, from and after the Union, be admitted free into each of the other Provinces.”
The company behind the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, Kinder Morgan, has stopped all non-essential spending on the expansion until it is assured the project can proceed without delay.
This week, Alberta premier Rachel Notley had bowed out of a Western premier’s meeting, saying she planned to concentrate on the pipeline project ahead of the May 31 deadline.
With files from The Canadian Press
