Today the National Energy Board released its Reconsideration report for Trans Mountain Expansion Project.The report concludes that:

“report concludes that Project-related marine shipping is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects on the Southern resident killer whale and on Indigenous cultural use associated with the Southern resident killer whale. The NEB also found that greenhouse gas emissions from Project-related marine vessels would likely be significant. While a credible worst-case spill from the Project or a Project-related marine vessel is not likely, if it were to occur the environmental effects would be significant. While these effects weighed heavily in the NEB’s consideration of Project-related marine shipping, the NEB recommends that the Government of Canada find that they can be justified in the circumstances, in light of the considerable benefits of the Project and measures to minimize the effects.“

As noted in the press release reproduced below, this process was about ‘getting to yes’ from the very beginning – it was set up to fail to protect the public interest. The federal approval of this project was always political. The BC Green Caucus continues to strongly believe that this project is not in the interest of British Columbians.

Media Release

Investing in fossil fuel infrastructure misguided, spells end of Southern Resident Killer Whales
For immediate release
February 22, 2019

VICTORIA, B.C. – Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green party, expressed profound disappointment at the National Energy Board’s report released today, which recommended the Federal Government approve the Transmountain Expansion Project.

“This process was about ‘getting to yes’ from the very beginning – it was set up to fail to protect the public interest. The federal approval of this project was always political. The BC Green caucus has been clear that this project is not in the interests of British Columbians.

“B.C. needs to be in control of our own environmental review process, to make sure it is objective and evidence-based. We cannot rely on the Federal government. The province should terminate the equivalency agreement with the Federal government, and conduct our own environmental assessment for this project. We must do all we can to ensure that our environment is protected from the costs of this project.

“Investing in 20th century technologies that are known to contribute to our 21st century challenges is irresponsible and short-sighted. The negative impacts of this project on BC are unacceptable. BC would shoulder massive environmental costs, while gaining little economic benefit. A spill would be devastating to our environment, our coastal economies and our tourism industry.

“BC’s economic future lies in the innovative, creative industries that are leading global economic growth, not the sunset industries of yesterday. The world is transitioning to the low-carbon economy, with or without us. Innovator super-powers like Germany and China are investing heavily in the economic opportunities that arise from this transition.

“The federal government must prioritize growth sectors instead of wasting billions investing in fossil fuel companies that are quickly becoming obsolete.

“The NEB found that there would be significant impacts on BC’s already endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. Is the federal government ready to justify to Canadians why it is willing to herald the death knell of this iconic species?

The report also found that there would be “significant” greenhouse gas emissions from the expanded marine vessel traffic alone.

“It is unbelievably misguided to build more fossil fuel infrastructure at this critical juncture in our history. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to begin the immediate transition to the low-carbon economy.”

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Media contact
Macon McGinley, Press Secretary
250-882-6187 |macon.mcginley@leg.bc.ca

Adam Olsen and I today announced that we will both serve as intervenors in the upcoming new National Energy Board hearings on the Transmountain pipeline project.

Below I reproduce our press release outlining our intentions.

We remain profoundly perplexed as to why the BC NDP government has not given the federal government the 30 days notice required to pull out of the equivalency agreement.

As I noted earlier, the BC NDP campaigned on using every tool in the tool box to stop the the Transmountain pipeline project. The recent Federal Court of Appeal ruling demonstrated that politics was put ahead of evidence and reconciliation in the federal cabinet approval of the project. This presented the BC NDP with a very powerful tool.

Given that the provincial cabinet’s approval relied on the same NEB report, and in light of the Federal Court of Appeal’s ruling that the report was “impermissibly flawed”, the BC Government has every right to pull out of the Equivalency Agreement and conduct its own, independent environmental assessment.

This is particularly important in light of the “it will be built” rhetoric emanating from the Trudeau government. How can British Columbians trust an environmental assessment process when the final answer has already been prescribed? The answer is simple, it can’t.

We have yet to receive any compelling reason as to why the BC NDP are not withdrawing from the equivalency agreement.

Media Release

B.C. Green MLAs Weaver and Olsen to intervene in new Trans Mountain NEB hearings
For immediate release
October 3, 2018

VICTORIA, B.C. – Andrew Weaver, leader, and Adam Olsen, spokesperson for Indigenous relations and reconciliation of the B.C. Green Party have applied to intervene in the new Trans Mountain National Energy Board (NEB) hearings. Weaver and Olsen were both intervenors in the 2014 certificate hearing for the Trans Mountain Expansion project.

“Although we are concerned that this is yet another rushed process engineered to facilitate a political win, unfortunately right now it is the only one we’ve got,” said Weaver.

“The Prime Minister vowed that all new projects would be put through a new NEB process. Three years into his government’s mandate, that promise has still not been kept. The NEB has not even confirmed that marine shipping – one of the key reasons cited in the unanimous federal court decision – will be included in the scope. My previous intervention focused largely on the issue of marine shipping and I was deeply dissatisfied by the lack of answers to my questions. The NEB must do better this time.”

Weaver is a climate scientist with a specialty in ocean physics. His office has spent hundreds of hours on research on the Trans Mountain file ahead of his previous intervention. Olsen, who is a member of the Tsartlip First Nation in Brentwood Bay, will focus his intervention on the issue of consultation, as he did previously. Both have applied for participant funding.

“The federal government promised to advance reconciliation, but the federal court decision shows that their actions on Trans Mountain were in fact a setback,” said Olsen. “I do not see how you can have meaningful consultation and approach Indigenous people as partners when you have a predetermined outcome for a project. Regardless, I will continue to sit at the table because I feel it is my duty to do everything I can to fight for a better future for my province and for my people.”

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Media contact
Jillian Oliver, Press Secretary
+1 778-650-0597 | jillian.oliver@leg.bc.ca

In the 2017 election the BC NDP campaigned on using every tool in the tool box to stop the the Transmountain pipeline project. Earlier this month I noted that the Federal Court of Appeal presented them with a very powerful tool.

Given that the provincial cabinet’s approval of the Transmountain project relied on the same NEB report as the federal approval, and in light of the recent Federal Court of Appeal’s ruling that the report was “impermissibly flawed”, the BC Government has the opportunity to pull out of the Equivalency Agreement and conduct its own, independent environmental assessment.

Today in Question Period I quizzed the Minister of Environment as to whether or not he will initiate a withdrawal from the equivalency agreement. Below I reproduce the video and text of our exchange.

Video of Exchange

Question

A. Weaver: On August 30, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the federal cabinet approval of the Trans Mountain project. The court cited: “The board’s process and finding were so flawed that the Governor-in-Council could not reasonably rely on the board’s report. Second, the government of Canada failed to fulfil the legal duty to consult Indigenous peoples.” In particular, the court noted: “The board unjustifiably defined the scope of the project under review not to include project-related tanker traffic.”

The B.C. NDP campaigned on using every tool in the toolbox to stop the project from going forward. My question to the Minister of Environment is this. In light of the fact that the court ruled that the NEB process was flawed, my question is: will he use his authority to pull out of the equivalency agreement with Ottawa on the environmental assessment of this project for the next 22 weeks?

Answer

Hon. G. Heyman: Thank you to the Leader of the Third Party for the question. I think this is a good opportunity to just take a brief look at history. There was a time when the official opposition, then in government, expressed concern about the impacts of diluted bitumen on our coast, expressed concern about failings that they perceived in the National Energy Board process, but as that process rolled on, the official opposition simply rolled over and accepted the conclusions of the National Energy Board.

But that wasn’t all. First Nations on the coast expressed concern as to their rights, their culture, their traditional economy. Thousands of British Columbians expressed concern about our environment, tens of thousands of jobs that were at risk, and this government stood up with them and expressed the same concerns. And what did the opposition say when we did that? They said that there was a decision, the project was going ahead, and we should simply accept it.

The decision of the Federal Court of Appeal is significant and far-reaching for a number of reasons, but not the least of which is it validated the concerns of First Nations, it validated the concerns of British Columbians about our coast, and it validated the actions of our government in standing up for our coast, and that’s what we will continue to do.

Supplementary Question

A. Weaver: I do recall, when I sat in opposition with my colleagues from the B.C. NDP — at a time when I heard them calling on the government of the day to actually withdraw from the equivalency agreement over the same concerns that I share today.

Our Prime Minister has signaled that the NEB has precisely 22 weeks on which to reassess the available information. That’s over Christmas. Interveners have to have given notice within the next couple of days if they want to participate.

It’s clear to me and those who participated as interveners in the prior assessment that the decision has already been made. How is it possible that the British Columbia government can have faith in a process where the decision is clearly made and where a prime minister has reiterated, time and time again, it will be built?

Again, to the Environment Minister: will he stand up for the interests of British Columbians and give the federal government the required 30 days’ notice to withdraw from the equivalency agreement today?

Answer

Hon. G. Heyman: Again, thank you to the Leader of the Third Party, who raises some very significant points about the process that is underway. The decision of the federal court was complex. It’s far-reaching. We are reviewing it with both internal and external legal advice.

The federal government’s announcement about how they intend to proceed with the NEB now gives us an important context within which to assess our options going forward. We are well aware of the impending deadline. We are preparing our action in response to that deadline. But more importantly, we are preparing a range of options that are thorough, they’re well considered…. But I can assure the Leader of the Third Party this: we will defend our environment. We will defend our coast. And we will defend the tens of thousands of British Columbian jobs that depend on it.

Today the Federal government announced its path forward on the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project. In response, my office issued the media release reproduced below.

Media Release

Weaver: Terms of new environmental review of Trans Mountain a concern
For immediate release
September 21, 2018

VICTORIA, B.C. – Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green party, is raising concerns about the federal government’s approach to reviewing the Trans Mountain pipeline project. Earlier this month, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the federal government’s approval due to the flawed NEB process.

“This process must be clear from political control and therefore needs to be free from a politically-imposed timeline,” said Weaver.

“Any process that is about getting to ‘yes’ will inevitably fail to protect the public interest. Environmental assessments must be objective and evidence-based. And meaningful consultation with Indigenous people must ensure they are approached as partners, not as barriers to be overcome on the way to a predetermined approval.

“The federal approval of this project was always political. The Prime Minister campaigned to subject all new projects to a revised NEB process, yet pushed Trans Mountain through the old broken one. Meanwhile, additional conditions were imposed on Energy East to ensure the project was assessed through the critical lense of climate change. Why would those same considerations not matter in the case of a pipeline through B.C.? There is no reason for B.C. to shoulder such significant risk simply to fulfill political agendas.

“Both colleague Adam Olsen and I were interveners in the original NEB hearings, focusing on the consequences of a marine spill and on Indigenous rights. We are exploring whether we have rights to intervene in the new hearings.

“We are also sitting down with the provincial government to ensure that they are using all legally available means, including terminating the equivalency agreement signed by the previous administration, to protect our coast from a catastrophic diluted bitumen spill.”

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Media contact
Jillian Oliver, Press Secretary
+1 778-650-0597 | jillian.oliver@leg.bc.ca

Last week, the Federal Appeal Court ruling revealed that politics was put ahead of evidence and reconciliation in the federal cabinet approval of the Transmountain pipeline project. My colleague Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and I both feel vindicated after many years serving as intervenors in the NEB process. The reasons cited in the Federal Court of Appeal ruling validated the key aspects of our arguments during the intervention process.

This presents an opportunity for the BC Government to step in and stand up for the protection of our coast.

On January 11, 2017, then Premier Christy Clark announced that her government’s five conditions had been been met. The Transmountain Pipeline project was given the green light.

Reacting to the announcement, John Horgan said he planned to “use every tool in our tool box” to stop the project. Indeed, these same words are embedded in our confidence and supply agreement:

“Immediately employ every tool available to the new government to stop the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline“

Well the BC Government has now been granted the ultimate tool. Given that the provincial cabinet’s approval of the project relied on the same NEB report, and in light of the Federal Court of Appeal’s ruling that the report was “impermissibly flawed”, the BC Government has the opportunity to pull out of the Equivalency Agreement and conduct its own, independent environmental assessment.

This is particularly important in light of the “it will be built” rhetoric emanating from the Trudeau government. How can British Columbians trust an environmental assessment process when the final answer has already been prescribed? The answer is simple, it can’t.

Below is the media statement that we released yesterday on this topic. There is an excellent contextual analysis of the issue in Ainslie Cruickshank‘s article that was published yesterday in the Star Vancouver.

Rest assured, the BC Green Caucus will closely monitor government’s response to our call. We don’t see any compelling reason not to pull out of the equivalency agreement in light of the fact that it is such an important tool now available in the so-called BC NDP toolbox.

Media Release

Andrew Weaver statement on the need for a made-in-B.C. environmental assessment of the Trans Mountain expansion project
For immediate release
6 September 2018

VICTORIA, B.C. – Today Andrew Weaver urged the Province to undertake its own made-in-B.C. environmental assessment of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

“It is clear that B.C. cannot rely on the Federal government to protect our environment from the risks of this project”, said Andrew Weaver, Leader of the B.C. Green Party.

“The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that there were ‘successive, unacceptable deficiencies’ in the NEB report. As a result, they found that the NEB’s report and recommendations could not be relied upon to make a decision in the public interest.

“Yet the Federal government insists that they will get this pipeline built. This rhetoric shows that they have already determined the outcome, and that they are in a rush to build this pipeline. As a result, it is clear that we cannot trust the Federal government to proceed in an objective and unbiased manner.”

The previous provincial government signed an equivalency agreement with the NEB in 2010, which meant that B.C. relied upon the NEB report in issuing its environmental certificate for the Trans Mountain expansion.

“B.C. needs to be in control of our own environmental review process, to make sure it is objective and evidence-based”, said Weaver. “The provincial government should terminate the equivalency agreement signed by the previous administration. Now is the time to use the tools at our disposal to ensure our environment is protected from the risks of an oil spill.”

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Media contact
Sarah Miller, Acting Press Secretary
+1 250-858-9891 | sarah.miller@leg.bc.ca