The federal government says it's happy with how talks with Indigenous groups have gone in regards to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and it is sure the project will hurdle every other court challenge it could face.
Canada's Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi met with representatives from Calgary's energy industry at the Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday and said his government has followed all the directives set out by the Federal Court of Appeal to move things ahead.
"So we followed the direction from the Federal Court of Appeal very, very closely and the issues that the court identified, we have rectified."
Sohi also says the government is considering bids for ownership from any Indigenous group willing buy a stake in the project.
"Mr. Morneau is going to be launching an engagement process and we will engage with all the Indigenous communities, particularly those who are directly impacted by the pipeline and we will see what sort of arrangements we will have."
It's important for Indigenous communities to be benefitting from natural resources, Sohi says.
"This will be an opportunity for us to work with them."
Once TMX is complete, along with Enbridge Line 3 and Keystone XL, Canada will have increased its daily production by 1.8 million barrels.
Sohi says that's predicted to be enough capacity to grow the resource sector until 2035.
But that doesn't mean the government isn't listening to future pipeline projects and he adds Bill C-69 has a process to ensure those projects can be assessed quickly and efficiently.
"If companies are interested in building and exploring pipelines, we absolutely are open to those options and proposals."
