British Columbia has won intervener status in the fight against Trans Mountain's pipeline$7.4-billion expansion. However, there are conditions that could put B.C. at a distinct disadvantage.
Justice David Stratas rules the hearings scheduled for Oct. 2-13 will not be delayed, meaning B.C. must submit a 15-page document of facts by September 1 as other interveners did. But interveners like Alberta, who are in favour of the expansion, have had months to prepare their submissions.
B.C.'s NDP government, is against the project. They missed the intitial April 13 deadline because they were not the government at the time. The NDP applied to the courts for intervener status on August 22.
The court also ruled B.C. cannot introduce any new issues or evidence at the October hearings, and must pay Trans Mountain $7,500 to cover the company's cost of having to prepare a late response to the arguments.
Besides the B.C. government, a number of municipalities and First Nations communities are challenging the federal government's approval of the project expressing grave conerns over tripling the capacity of the pipeline which would stretch from Alberta to Burnaby, and would result in an increase in tanker traffic on the BC coast.