Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in limbo as ‘duty to consult’ takes centre stage

CALGARY – The process for reviewing pipeline projects in Canada is in flux, creating severe legal complications for lawyers on both sides of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

Changes are coming to the regulatory process that will affect Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, adding new regulatory hurdles for a project nearing the end of its current review process.

A spokesperson for Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr confirmed to Bloomberg News Friday that the federal government is developing a transition plan that will affect Trans Mountain application, just as the regulatory panel is hearing final arguments whether or not to approve the project.

“We would be very concerned about anything that would push back the deadlines for construction and the in-service date,” Kinder Morgan senior director of aboriginal and legal affairs Peter Forrester said.

The federal department did not provide details on the new regulatory requirements, but lawyers for aboriginal groups along the Trans Mountain pipeline route argued this week before an NEB panel that the current process does not adequately satisfy the federal government’s obligations to First Nations.

In a heated final argument Thursday, Squamish First Nation lawyer Aaron Bruce told the NEB that it cannot recommend the Trans Mountain expansion project’s approval because the federal government “recognizes the current process is deficient to address First Nations concerns. We shouldn’t be here today.”