The B.C. government has filed a lawsuit against Alberta for passing Bill 12.
The bill would allow Alberta to require permits for the transportation of oil and gas to other provinces, including British Columbia. Alberta premier has said she is prepared to use it to "turn off the taps" if B.C. continues its battle against Kinder Morgan.
B.C. Attorney General, David Eby said the bill is unconstitutional, because it violates the Constitution Act section which states resources must be admitted freely between provinces.
“This lawsuit challenges the validity of Alberta’s Bill 12, which last week received Royal Assent,” Eby said. “It received Royal Assent despite our requests that Alberta refer their bill to their courts, as British Columbia has done with our legislation that was challenged by Alberta.”
Eby said when Alberta requested B.C. check the constitutionality of their attempts to stop Kinder Morgan; they submitted a reference question to the BC Court of Appeals, which has yet to be ruled on.
When filing their reference question in April B.C. wanted to send the question straight to the Supreme Court of Canada, but the government of Canada did not permit it, according to Eby.
“We also proposed that the federal government step in and bring all outstanding legal matters between Alberta and British Columbia to the Supreme Court of Canada. This would fast track resolution in the interprovincial dispute, it would bring finality and it would bring certainty,” Eby said. “Unfortunately both Alberta and Canada refused our proposals.
Alberta refused to subject their legislation to the review we have voluntarily agreed to go through with our own legislations namely a reference to their courts, and the federal government refused to refer both matters to the Supreme Court of Canada.”
This new lawsuit is the fifth ongoing legal case in regards to Kinder Morgan.