Trudeau says he won’t use ‘tricks’ to ram through pipeline construction
EDMONTON — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pouring cold water on Alberta’s suggestion that the federal government use legislation or a court appeal to get construction started quickly on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
In an interview on Edmonton radio station CHED, Trudeau says using “tricks” such as a new law or the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause would create further legal fights down the road.
“Using a legislative trick might be satisfying in the short term, but it would set up fights and uncertainty for investors over the coming years on any other project, because you can’t have a government keep invoking those sorts of things on every given project,” he told the radio station Wednesday.
“People want to know that we are doing things the right way for the long term — that jobs that get started will continue and won’t get stopped by the courts. That’s the change we are focused on making.”