Premier Rachel Notley says Ottawa’s constitutional duty to consult with Indigenous people means there can’t be a hard deadline placed on the additional consultation on the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.
The latest phase of consultation was announced Wednesday by Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi. The process, led by retired Supreme Court judge Frank Iacobucci, does not have a timeline.
Jason Kenney, leader of Alberta’s Official Opposition United Conservative Party, will react to Sohi’s announcement in Calgary this afternoon.
In Edmonton, Notley said a restart of construction may be delayed past next summer.
“I’d like to see construction resume next year at some point,” she said, “but at the end of the day we know that the constitutional obligation to consult with Indigenous people is such that it must be defined by the consultations. It cannot be defined by an arbitrary timeline.”
Notley said a considerable amount of work was done in the first review, so the additional consultation period may not take too much time. She offered her oft-repeated assertion that the pipeline will be built.
The additional consultation with Indigenous people meets one shortcoming addressed by the Federal Court of Appeal ruling.
Last month, Sohi said the National Energy Board would spend another 22 weeks gathering information on how the project could affect coast waters and the resident killer whale population.
Sohi also announced Ottawa has decided not to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal ruling that brought construction to a standstill in late August.
Notley expressed frustration that avenue has been closed as it could have served as the government’s backup plan.
“As far as I’m concerned their job is to keep all options open,” she said. Or to put it another way, you don’t lock up your tool box when you haven’t finished the job and the job’s not finished yet.”