Alberta economic development minister Deron Bilous says a fine for violating a trade agreement would be small in comparison to the jobs and investment that could be lost if the British Columbia government continues to oppose the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
On Monday, B.C. launched a complaint under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement over the ban on B.C. wine imports announced two weeks ago by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.
Alberta could face a maximum fine of $10 million if the panel rules in B.C.’s favour but Bilous suggested it might be worth paying.
“Let’s compare the … fine versus the billions of dollars of investment, and the thousands of jobs,” he said Tuesday.
“So for us, we know what our priority is and that’s getting this pipeline built and we’ll do whatever necessary to get B.C. to smarten up.”
Kinder Morgan’s $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project was approved by the federal government in 2016. It would nearly triple capacity of the current pipeline system to 890,000 barrels a day.
The wine ban was in retaliation for B.C.’s proposal to restrict shipments of diluted bitumen while the province studies the risk of oil spills on the Pacific coast.
Notley has called the move unconstitutional and illegal, and has asked the federal government to intervene.
Officials from the B.C. and federal governments have been talking in an effort to resolve the dispute.
Notley said Alberta would take additional measures if those talks did not result in tangible results by early this week.
Rulings on complaints under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement can take a maximum of 460 days.