Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sidestepped questions raised in the House of Commons on Tuesday about whether he was aware of secret instructions delivered in 2016 to public servants working on the federal review of the Trans Mountain expansion project.
NDP Parliamentary Leader Guy Caron raised the questions after National Observer published a report detailing how a high-ranking federal official urged public servants from multiple departments to find a legally-sound way for Trudeau’s cabinet to approve the west coast pipeline project, proposed by Texas-based Kinder Morgan, four weeks before the government announced its decision.
The instructions were provided to staffers from five different federal departments that were reviewing evidence and factors related to the approval. But they contrasted with the message that the government was delivering at that time to members of the public and to First Nations it was supposedly consulting about the project.
“We now have a media report claiming that the process to approve Kinder Morgan was rigged, following lobbying from a Texas oil company,” Caron said in the Commons. “The government rushed the review process and instructed staff to find a ‘legally-sound basis to say yes to the Trans Mountain pipeline.’ Was the prime minister aware that members of his government pressured officials to rush the review and produce a positive result for Kinder Morgan?”
The federal government has a legal duty to consult First Nations about decisions that may affect their rights, their land and their property under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. As a result, the courts could overturn Trudeau’s approval of the Trans Mountain project if they determine federal consultations with First Nations weren’t done in a meaningful way.
Trudeau targets NDP and Tories
Trudeau responded by accusing New Democrats and Conservatives of trying to force the government to choose between either the environment or the economy.
“We got elected on a commitment to both grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time, because, quite frankly, 10 years of the previous government not proecting the environment actually left us with the lowest economic growth rate since the depths of the Great Depression,” Trudeau said.
“We are moving forward on both building pipelines and bringing in protections for the environment at the same time. It is what Canadians expect of our government, and it is what we are delivering.”
Caron persisted, suggesting that Trudeau hadn’t understood the question. The NDP MP also alluded to other details uncovered by National Observer which revealed that high-ranking federal officials sped up the timeline for completing the Kinder Morgan review, following a phone call from Ian Anderson, president of the company’s Canadian affiliate.
“It’s as if the CEO of Kinder Morgan has a direct line to the minister of natural resources,” Caron said. “How can the prime minister continue to expect people to believe there was a balanced process, when it becomes clear that the dice were loaded from the start?”
Trudeau and Notley discussing financial deal with Kinder Morgan
Trudeau’s government and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s government have both said they’ve engaged in financial discussions with Kinder Morgan to find a way to ensure the project is built. The launched these negotiations after the company announced…
