Speaking at an event hosted by the Toronto Board Region of Trade, Energy Minister Catherine McKenna said she was not ready to make an announcement on the fate of the two pipeline projects, only saying the decision would come “soon.”
McKenna also wouldn’t say whether the decision on the projects had already been made yet or when it would become public knowledge, according to CTV News.
In January this year, First Nations were the victors in a major battle against Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline carried out in the B.C. Supreme Court when the court ruled First Nations had not been adequately consulted.
And on November 21, Digital Journal reported that the Trudeau government was supposed to decide by Friday whether to go ahead with further Indigenous consultations or drop approval for the Northern Gateway project.
Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement pipeline project is the largest in the company’s history and will be 1,659 kilometers (1,031 miles) long. This project would replace the decades-old pipeline that runs from the Athabasca River Basin in Hardisty, Alberta, through northern Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin, doubling the pipeline’s capacity, reports the Huffington Post.
The $7.5-billion Line 3 project already has the National Energy Board’s recommendation for approval and would allow oil exports to increase from 390,000 to 760,000 barrels a day, seeing as Enbridge has been running the pipeline at reduced capacity due to its deteriorating condition.
The Daily Courier, in a story published Thursday, reported that Reuters, citing sources they were familiar with, said the decision on the pipelines would come next Tuesday. Of Course, the federal government declined to comment on the report.
Needless to say, Trudeau’s government is walking a very wobbly tightrope trying to balance Canada’s energy needs while appeasing environmentalists. And if the government approves the Line 3 pipeline replacement, opposition to it will grow in the U.S.
