A Saskatchewan Law professor says the constitutional jurisdiction over pipelines is as "clear as bitumen".
Jason Maclean teaches law at the University of Saskatchewan. He says jurisprudence in the Supreme Court has moved a long way from the "watertight" compartments of what is clearly in federal and provincial jurisdiction.
And he says BC has a real case -- and points to the 2016 decision with respect to the Northern Gateway Pipeline which also proposed bringing bitumen from Alberta to a BC port and transporting it by tanker to Asia:
"The court pointed out really helpfully that, sure Northern Gateway crossed provincial borders and so to that extent was subject to ultimate federal approval. But it wasn't a national project. It was a project whose risks would be disproportionately borne by British Columbians, and that British Columbia absolutely has the jurisdiction to look after environmental and economic affects within its own terriuroty."
Maclean says the Trans Mountain pipeline is the exact same case with the exact same facts, and any court challenge would result in the same finding.