Disappointment, frustration in Federal Court quashing of Trans Mountain approval

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Bobocel says from a Chamber perspective, everyone involved in the project has gone above and beyond what they needed to do.

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“Obviously the Federal Court of Appeal doesn’t agree with that,” adds Bobocel. “Trans Mountain has been in consultations with this project for well over five years but just from the outside looking in, I don’t see how any reasonable person could say that Trans Mountain hasn’t done their due diligence with respect to consultation and educating all affected people of what the impact of this project is going to be.”

He admits morale in the energy industry will take a hit from this decision.

“It’s going to have a significant impact,” states Bobocel. “I think people were cautiously optimistic when the federal government made the decision to purchase the project, they were cautiously optimistic that it was going to happen and I think the industry started to say ‘Okay, maybe this is the last hurdle and we can get back to the way things have been with respect to productivity.’ But obviously we’re going to have to wait a little bit longer to see the results of this project, assuming the federal government can make this thing happen.”

Bobocel says the ball is now in the federal government’s court, so Canada’s entire business community will be watching closely as to how the government manages this decision.

“I hear a lot of rhetoric from the federal minister about the importance of the project,” says Bobocel. “Now it’s their time to show how important they feel this is and what steps they’re willing to take to get the project moving. A lot of wait and see, we will be watching and we will be proactively commenting on the direction we see the federal government taking.”

Red Deer – Mountain View MP Earl Dreeshen says the news is very frustrating.

“I think it sends a terrible message to the country and the energy industry, but beyond that, it sends a terrible message to the whole world that Canada is no longer open for business,” states Dreeshen. “Meanwhile, we’re dealing with carbon emissions and so on and the rest of the world which doesn’t have anywhere near the kinds of rules and regulations that we have for safety and security, they are going to fill that void. It’s so short-sighted and people are frustrated by it.”

In terms of meaningful consultation with First Nations regarding the project, Dreeshen feels many were on board with the project.

“There are so many First Nations that were excited about being part of this particular program, looking at opportunities for them and to be able to do things for their communities,” adds Dreeshen. “They were talked to all along the line. How would we have ever gotten a railway built, how would we have ever had the TransCanada built if these types of things were taking place then?”

Finance Minister Bill Morneau says the federal government is pushing ahead with its purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion despite the Federal Court of Appeal ruling today that overturned Ottawa’s approval of the project.

Morneau says an expanded pipeline to bring more Alberta oil to the BC coast is critically important to Canada’s economy.

Following today’s ruling, shareholders at Kinder Morgan Canada voted 99 per cent in favour of selling Trans Mountain to the federal government.

Premier Rachel Notley has announced that she will speak to the province in a LIVE televised address Thursday night at 6 p.m. It can be viewed on Facebook.