A day after the British Columbia government released proposals that would impact the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, Premier Rachel Notley and her cabinet discussed how they would respond in an emergency meeting in Edmonton.
On Tuesday, the B.C. government proposed what it called a second phase of regulations, meant to “improve preparedness, response and recovery necessary to protect B.C.’s environment” from potential spills.
One of the proposed moves included restricting increases for the amount of diluted crude transported until “behaviour of spilled bitumen can be better understood.”
Hours after the proposal was released, Notley spoke out against it, calling it “political game-playing” by the B.C. government, saying they don’t “have the right to rewrite our constitution.”
On Wednesday, the NDP cabinet met for an emergency meeting to decide how to respond, Notley spoke before ministers started discussing their next steps.
Notley said the B.C. government acted “outside the law” when they took “direct aim at the Alberta and the Canadian economy.”
“The B.C. government took this action with no provocation, and almost no warning,” Notley said.
“To call this a violation of the rules governing our Confederation is an understatement, it is an attack on its very foundation.”
The Trans Mountain pipeline was approved by the federal government in late November, 2016 – but has faced a number of challenges since then.
