A rendering of the Trans Mountain terminal in Burnaby, B.C. - Courtesy Trans Mountain

By Charles Lefebvre

Trans Mountain Pipeline

Federal Court of Appeal dismisses Trans Mountain Pipeline challenge

Feb 4, 2020 | 11:35 AM

OTTAWA — The Federal Court of Appeal has officially dismissed a second challenge to the Trans Mountain Pipeline, clearing the way for the project to go ahead.

The decision, released Tuesday morning, determined the federal government did its duty to consult First Nations groups on the route of the pipeline.

Seamus O’Regan, the federal Minister of Natural Resources, welcomes the decision.

“Today’s ruling affirms that the Government of Canada’s renewed consultations with Indigenous communities addressed the issues identified by the Federal Court of Appeal in its August 2018 decision,” O’Regan said in a statement. “This was a responsibility the Government of Canada took very seriously, and it is work the government did in partnership with Indigenous communities.”

The long-delayed $7.4 billion project, which is owned by the federal government, was approved for a second time in June 2019. The pipeline was stalled in 2018 after the Court of Appeal said there was insufficient consultation with Indigenous groups.

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Four First Nations groups in British Columbia filed a court challenge last year, saying the federal government did not adequately consult with the First Nations between August 2018 and June 2019.

Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner Member of Parliament Glen Motz added he was pleased the appeal was dismissed.

“The decision focused on whether there was adequate consultations, and the unanimous decision by the Federal Court of Appeal said that there was,” he said over the phone from Ottawa. “I think the legal hurdles are slowly disappearing and clearing a path for the construction of that pipeline. That’s great news for Canada, it’s great news for Western Canadian energy, and it gives some hope.”

Motz says with Tuesday’s dismissal, and the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision rejecting British Columbia’s appeal of the pipeline, shows the pipeline is in the national interest, and he is confident it will be completed.

“How long can groups continue to veto a project that has gone through the vigour that this has gone through,” he said. “I’m just disappointed that the taxpayers had to be on the hook for $4.5 billion in the first place. It should have been approved long before this.

Premier Jason Kenney also weighed in on the decision, calling it “a victory for common sense and the rule of law.”

“This ruling confirms what we’ve known all along: the Trans Mountain expansion project has been held to the highest standard at every turn,” the statement reads.

“Now that this legal hurdle has been cleared, there is absolutely no denying that it’s time to get this pipeline built. TMX will result in billions of dollars of economic prosperity for Canadians and create well-paying jobs throughout the country.”

The pipeline, which runs from near Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., began construction in 2019, with plans of being completed by 2022.

The Tsleil-Waututh Nation, one of the four nations involved in the challenge, indicated on Tuesday they plan to appeal the decision.

The full decision can be read here.

-With files from The Canadian Press