Federal Court of Appeal quashes approval of Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion

Aug 30 2018, 10:16 pm

The Federal Court of Appeal has quashed the government’s approval to build the Trans Mountain expansion project.

On Thursday morning, the decision was released by Justice Eleanor Dawson, stating that the court found the National Energy Board’s assessment flawed on two principles.

“First, the Board’s process and findings were so flawed that the Governor in Council could not reasonably rely on the Board’s report; second, Canada failed to fulfil the duty to consult owed to Indigenous peoples,” stated Dawson in the court documents.

Trans Mountain Pipeline currently includes a pipeline approximately 1,147-km-long that moves crude oil, and refined and semi-refined petroleum products from Edmonton, Alberta to marketing terminals and refineries in the central region and lower mainland area of British Columbia, as well as to the Puget Sound area in Washington State.

In 2013, Trans Mountain submitted an application to the National Energy Board for the Trans Mountain expansion project, stating that the primary purpose of the project is to provide additional capacity to transport crude oil from Alberta to markets in the Pacific Rim, including Asia.

The court’s order has now stopped the project indefinitely, and First Nations communities, including the Tsleil-Waututh who took Canada to court, are celebrating the decision.

Last week, the City of Burnaby’s efforts to block the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project were dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada. In a notice posted by the country’s top court, it is stated that “the application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs to the respondents, the Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC and the Attorney General of Alberta.”

Kinder Morgan shareholders will vote to approve the purchase of the pipeline today.

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