The federal government has given itself some more time to hammer out a decision for the controversial Trans Mountain Pipeline.
The decision was supposed to come out on May 22 but the government has pushed that date back to June 18.
Amarjeet Sohi, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, released a statement on Thursday and said they want to make sure consultations with First Nations groups move forward in a meaningful way.
Sohi told CTV News in Edmonton that Indigenous communities requested more time to review some of the reports, so the government obliged with an additional three weeks.
"I feel that this extension will allow us to move forward in the right way on this project with meaningful consultations with Indigenous communities."
He says it's very important the government does its homework on Trans Mountain and gets the process completed in the right way.
"We cannot cut corners on this process because getting our resources to global markets and building the projects the right way is important not only to grow the economy but also that Canadians can trust the process and Indigenous communities can trust this process."
Premier-designate Jason Kenney said he's already spoken with the Prime Minister about the delay on TMX and understands why Ottawa needs more time to make a final decision.
"I agreed with the Prime Minister that they need to make sure that they cross every ‘t’ and dot every ‘i’ when it comes to discharging the federal government’s duty to consult. We certainly don’t want them having to go back to the drawing board a third time on this. We will continue, on our part, to build an alliance across the country that supports TMX and other pipelines and continue to communicate the urgency of this to all Canadians."
Rachel Notley, leader of the Official Opposition, who fought to get the Trans Mountain expansion built throughout her tenure as premier, was disappointed to hear of the delay. However, she admits the government needs to have all the work done properly so that the decision can pass any future court challenge.
She added that she’s advised Jason Kenney that the pipeline issue isn’t an easy problem to manage.
“It’s not as simple as having press conferences and expressing people’s outrage over and over. This is a complicated country. It involves considered diplomacy and strategic pressure in a thoughtful way … There’s a lot of different players. I wish Mr. Kenney luck on that because it’s what Albertans need.”
The National Energy Board approved the project for the second time this past February after Trans Mountain’s original approval was quashed after it was found there wasn’t enough consultation done with First Nations groups.
Meanwhile support for the Trans Mountain project has been solid in Alberta, especially after western Canadians joined forces for a convoy heading to Ottawa to hold a rally on the steps of Parliament Hill.
The group called on the government to take immediate action on pipelines.
Cody Battershill, the founder of oil Canada Action, says he’s incredibly disappointed with the federal government’s decision.
“This pipeline is absolutely critical to our nation’s prosperity and this is an example of what happens when you take the decision-making process out of the hands of regulators and put it into the hands of political regime. This is also another example of why Bill C-69 has to be stopped. This will be the future for all resource projects in Canada … endless delays and political gains that are being placed.”
He says while First Nations consultations are very important, he is concerned about the impact these delays will have on families who rely on oil and gas jobs.
“We can’t continue to delay all these resource projects. It just becomes political football and it’s not fair to the families that I know that are continuing to lose their jobs just in the last couple weeks.”
Trans Mountain said in a statement on Thursday that it welcomed the certainty provided by Minister Sohi and is prepared to restart construction on TMX once the appropriate approvals are in place.
Analysts expected the final decision to be delayed past the provincial election but others say it could even come after the federal election in the fall.
(With files from The Canadian Press)
