B.C. Attorney General David Eby says the government filed a statement of claim in Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench challenging the constitutionality of Alberta’s Preserving Canada’s Economic Prosperity Act, or Bill 12.
“You are being sued. You are the Defendant,” reads the claim filed in Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench. “Today’s filing came after we repeatedly called on Alberta not to move forward with blatantly unconstitutional legislation,” says Attorney General Eby, according to 660 News.
During a press conference on May 16, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley used her strongest language yet in reiterating her promise to cut off all oil and gas flow into British Columbia if the province did not stop its opposition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline project.
Later that day, the Alberta government passed Bill 12, entitled Preserving Canada’s Economic Prosperity Act. The bill gives the Alberta government the ability to retaliate against the B.C. government for any delays to the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, including driving up gas prices and restricting exports to the province that would include gasoline, oil, diesel and natural gas.
On April 8, Kinder Morgan Limited (KML) suspended all non-essential activities and related spending on its $7.4 billion oil pipeline expansion project in the face of mounting legal challenges from British Columbia.
“In the current environment, we will not put [Kinder Morgan] shareholders at risk on the remaining project spend,” Steve Kean, Kinder Morgan’s chair, and chief executive officer said in a press release that Sunday afternoon. “A company cannot resolve differences between governments. While we have succeeded in all legal challenges to date, a company cannot litigate its way to an in-service pipeline amidst jurisdictional differences between governments.”
It appears that the squabble between the two provinces isn’t going to be resolved anytime soon, especially since they can’t seem to get on the same page regarding the economy of Canada and the need to protect the environment.
