Not since Glen Clark tried to take on the U.S. Navy91裸聊视频檚 nuclear submarine fleet has B.C. seen such a flamboyantly hopeless effort as Premier John Horgan91裸聊视频檚 anti-pipeline theatre.
Inserting himself into a fisheries dispute between Canada and the U.S. in 1999, then-premier Clark tried to ban U.S. subs from using the provincially owned Nanoose Bay torpedo testing range off Vancouver Island. In response, then-prime minister Jean Chretien expropriated the area, returning it a couple of years later after the B.C. NDP was reduced to two seats and the province came under adult supervision.
Horgan91裸聊视频檚 on a similar path.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e in court, we91裸聊视频檙e going to stay in court,91裸聊视频� Horgan said as he prepared to fly to Ottawa to meet Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday.
Yes, they91裸聊视频檙e in court, barely. Last summer, the newly minted NDP government sneaked in as an 91裸聊视频渋ntervener91裸聊视频� in the latest challenge of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Horgan91裸聊视频檚 chosen lawyer, Tom Berger, got grudging approval from the Federal Court of Appeal.
The case is a combination of several brought by the usual environmental groups and dissident aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities, unconcerned about the dozens of communities that want the project. As Notley likes to remind Horgan, it91裸聊视频檚 the 15th case against the federal approval of Trans Mountain, and the score is 0-14.
In granting intervener status last August, Justice David Stratas warned B.C. that it can91裸聊视频檛 bring new evidence, and if it plays politics it will be booted out. Stratas rebuked the province for taking five weeks to get its case together, and even then, it didn91裸聊视频檛 spell out what arguments it wants to make.
The province, meaning Horgan and Berger, 91裸聊视频渄oes not appear to understand the basic ground rules of the complex proceeding it is seeking to enter,91裸聊视频� the judge wrote. Ouch.
Berger is best known for taking years to grind the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline to a halt back in the 1970s, and for a brief stint as B.C. NDP leader. Perhaps bringing him out of retirement at age 84 wasn91裸聊视频檛 the best idea.
Horgan91裸聊视频檚 team has also hired the NDP91裸聊视频檚 current go-to lawyer, Joe Arvay, to cook up a court reference question. So far he hasn91裸聊视频檛 even figured out which level of court to take it to. If and when he does, it could be a year or more before it91裸聊视频檚 heard.
The reference case was Horgan91裸聊视频檚 hasty fall-back position after Environment Minister George Heyman triggered a trade war with Alberta by announcing a plan to restrict diluted bitumen transport in B.C. Heyman still insists he can do this, including restrictions on oil by rail, another federal jurisdiction.
Washington state91裸聊视频檚 ecology department reports that rail shipments of Alberta heavy crude to its refineries have been rising since they started in 2012. As of 2017, a typical week would see 80 to 120 diluted bitumen rail cars rolling down the Fraser Canyon to Bellingham.
This is the practical effect of NDP and B.C. Green support for the U.S.-backed protest 91裸聊视频渉ive91裸聊视频� that targets pipeline projects across Canada. Oil is moving onto riskier trains, refining continues in the U.S. and increasingly expensive gasoline and diesel are sold back into B.C.
Opposition MLAs have been trying to pin Heyman down on how far he will go to stop the pipeline. He finally admitted that as soon as the NDP took office, lawyers told them they have no chance and should not even say publicly that they are trying.
All this sound and fury signifies nothing.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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